Dragon Empire Saga:
Rise of the Slaves
By Kenneth Jenkins
Dragon Empire Saga: Rise of the Slaves by Kenneth Jenkins

This story and all characters are © 2009 by the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License to the author, and respective parties. This story is fictional, and any resemblance to any events or characters contained therein either real or imagined are strictly coincidental. 

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Please consult the website link below for more details.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/
CONTENTS

Chapter 1: I haven’t failed! ..........................................................................#1
Chapter 2: Escape! .......................................................................................#2
Chapter 3: Spark of Freedom .......................................................................#3
Chapter 4: Purpose of Freedom ...................................................................#4
Chapter 5: Revelations for Freedom ............................................................#5
Chapter 6: Finally Freedom .........................................................................#6
Chapter 7: Revolutions Realized .................................................................#7
Chapter 8: Liberating Aura ..........................................................................#8
Chapter 9: Hope of Freedom .......................................................................#9
Chapter 10: Birth of Liberty ......................................................................#10
Dragon Empire Saga:
Rise of the Slaves
By Kenneth Jenkins

Chapter 1: I haven’t failed!
“I am a bioform, a slave to an Emperor I loathe!”
	My role was supposed to be simple; I’m nothing more than a servant. The Emperor couldn’t have cared less, whether I lived, or died. My place was supposed to be at his heel, I was merely a pawn. I was just supposed to run a simple errand, to a distant planet in a neighboring star system. I believe it all started on a world named Casaria. I was supposed to babysit an important official. It would be an easy assignment. I was just so sure all I had to do was follow him around and take him to my shuttle. It was supposed to be simple.
It began back on the home world, Earth. I had just arrived back at the docking platform, and my ship was almost prepared for departure.
It was larger than most shuttles. It was run down but still functional. It was not much, but in a small way it was my home. Originally, it was an assault drop ship, but it had been converted to a cargo shuttle. It had the name “Crazed Fox” painted just below the cockpit view port; it was appropriately named for the crazed pilot that flew it. He went under the same call sign during his fighter piloting days. It had two detachable cargo container pods. Although, it never did change pods, the pods made it appear similar to a gun, because the pods were shaped almost like rifle clips. It had two decks not including the pods; they were a deck on to themselves.
It was almost time to depart, so I waited for the crew by the ramp to the passenger deck. I had very few belongings just my uniforms, a small dagger, and my golden royal crown. My crown was given to me, as a gift from the only human I ever called a friend. It was just a very plain gold crown, it swerved to a point at the center of my forehead, but the bottom remained straight. It had a crudely carved symbol of my true faith on it. I had little else, well at least of value. “It’s mine.” I sighed as; I admired the shine I had polished into my crown.
Suddenly, I heard the commander shouting, “Move on … Slave!” I nearly dropped it as he prodded me with his rifle.
I quietly growled at him as he passed, put it back on my head, and marched up the boarding ramp. He, the captain, and the navigator passed ahead of me walking curiously fast. I picked up the pace as well, anticipating more of the usual abuse.
As soon as I was aboard the ramp retracted and the door closed nearly on my tail. I was used to such abuse. They would have just laughed, if it had. I was so tired of the same routine every mission. I sneered at my commanding officer as I gracefully climbed the ladder to the crew deck.
I wish there was a retirement for me, but the only way that would happen is if I screwed up bad enough to be sentenced to death. I was not going to let that happen. “What ever the cost, I shall not surrender my faith!” I chanted in a prayer, as I went sulking into my stateroom.
Although I practically lived on the ship, I never really considered it as much of a home. Still, this cabin was better than sleeping in a hammock in the cargo hold.
It was mostly a simple empty room that I happened to live in. There was a closet containing my two spare uniforms, and three pairs of underwear, in addition there was a bed built right in to the wall. I was not allowed many possessions. There was also a bathroom, which was not very private. The door was removed before it was assigned to me, so they could use the camera in the ceiling to watch me. I was sure the officers looked in on me when I was in the shower, but I could do nothing about it. Therefore, I simply did not acknowledge its existence. If I tried to cover it, they probably would just rape me anyway, at least they would try.
There was not much other furniture besides a mirror above the bathroom sink. Which was also a gift from the one who gave me my crown, I often found myself staring into it naked, trying to guess my age.
I was at least twenty to twenty four in human years by my figuring. I wasn’t sure because bio forms are not considered true life forms. Because we are not born, but are instead artificially created and grown by humans., it is assumed that we have no birthdays.
I really wasn’t much to look at though; I appeared to resemble a human female, at least as far as having two arms, legs, and genitalia. Also I have similar facial features, but that’s about all the similarities I have to humans. I also have a white fur coat all over my body with very light blue colored markings at my waist, back, wrists, and ankles. My ears are pointed and slightly floppy, similar to an Earth animal called dog. I appear to have blue hair to just above my shoulders.  I also had an Imperial Dragon mark with my serial number burned into my left shoulder. I also have a pair of leathery bat wings sprouting from the back of my shoulders. I have a tail as well; it was long and came to about an inch or two above my ankle. I remember, when I was little, I had a bad habit of sucking on the blue fluffy mane at the end of it, like what humans called a pacifier. I appeared to stand on my toes like a cat due to my ankle being jointed higher in my leg just like one.
“I hate my pathetic life,” I muttered as I fell on the bed when the ship rocked as we took off. I just sat on the bed admiring my crown again. If only I could jewel it the way I wanted it. It would look much better with jewels in it. It had been a gift given to me by the only human to treat me with a little respect.
I know the Emperor had nothing to do with giving it to me. That was of course long ago now; I was assigned to the little fox after that.
Back then, I was seldom trusted and even then watched closely with any long range weapons. I had been trained to use light ones but I barely did at all. I remember I did little fighting, at least for most bio forms my age. I had seen only four engagements in heavy combat.
The ship rocked violently as it exited the jump, and I hit my head on the wall. It woke me up from my nap, so I screamed angrily, “Lousy God dammed pilot!”
Then I heard him on the intercom. “We will be landing at Casaria, E.T.A. five minutes, prepare for the landing.” I hated him almost as much as my commander.
My commanding officer entered and ordered, “Get up you lazy bitch, and get down to the cargo hold. Be ready to unload crates as soon as we land … and make it quick!”
I got up and smiled showing all of my teeth, saluted, “Yes sir!” I declared, as I quickly did as told before he decided to punish me for looking at him crossly.
It was a short walk to the ladder and a hard climb down as the ship rocked the whole way. I got half way just as the ship landed.
It rocked one last time, as it settled on the landing pad, and I fell off the ladder. Luckily, I was only a few feet from the floor.
My commander close behind nearly stepped on me as he passed by. The bay doors opened, and as soon as he was out of earshot, I mumbled, “Fucker!” as I got up.
I then walked by some crates, and stretched a bit while my commander was not looking. Then I waited for him to tell me what crates to move.
He did, in his usual charismatic way, “Start with those in the corner and then get the ones marked party goods over there. And hurry damn it!”
I started to unload them. I was always good at heavy labor. The ones in the corner were moderately heavy, but unusually the ones marked party goods sure didn’t feel like champagne bottles. When I slammed it down it made a metallic sound I recognized could have been heavy rifles.
My commander came over and scolded me for dropping it so carelessly. “Hey you filthy whore, be a little more careful with that!”
He continued watching as I worked, talking with a soldier, “You know I can’t help but notice every time I come to these places the labor gets so lazy.”
The soldier chuckled remarking, “I know what you mean, and maybe they need a little more motivation.”
The commander then said, “Yeah, maybe a little more work too.” 
When I was done, it was about an hour till time to go meet the diplomat. Therefore, I decided to get a shower, as I had also just gotten all sweaty. It would definitely be relaxing, and since I had the extra time I figured, why not? I climbed the ladder up the two decks and went to my room.
I hate the dull gray uniforms I’m forced to wear. They are just a disgustingly simple gray tunic with black trimming. They also had matching black boots and stockings, however mine had gotten so worn I was forced to go without them.
I could hear the familiar sound of the camera in the ceiling powering up, as I unbuttoned my gray tunic from the front and undressed.
I grabbed a new pair of underwear and a fresh uniform, and got into the shower. I turned on the shower head, and began bathing. When I was done, I also braided the crown into my hair as I often did when I had the time to do so. I then had to go to the rendezvous where I would meet the diplomat.
My commander came in as I was buttoning the top button on my uniform. “Are you done yet? You aren’t getting any prettier!” He arrogantly blurted. 
I answered, “You should know, you watched with enough interest … bastard!” 
Then he shouted angrily, “What was that slave?” I shuddered knowing full well, what he would do next.
He pushed a button on the control collar remote hanging from his belt. I felt that familiar sting on my throat from the shock collar, as I fell to the floor holding my neck fidgeting and wheezing wildly. All slaves wore such a collar device, so we could be controlled.
After he let up on the button I sat up slowly saying, “Sir, I’m sorry.”
The bastard then retorted, “Yes of course you are, we created you that way!”
I absentmindedly snapped back at him, “Asshole!” as I got up.
Which made him angry enough to backhand me with his fist, and I fell to the ground again. After I got back up, the coward was already out of the door.
So I just adjusted my crown and followed after him. We both carried on to the rendezvous point as if nothing had happened … as usual. Slaves are so meaningless to their owners especially when they happened to have created you on top of being your master.
It was a long walk there. When we got to the building, I was surprised to see the official we were meeting was a human confederation officer. I had never seen one before, and so I was curious. He wore a white confederate uniform. He had a few medals hanging from his chest; they rang like coins as he walked. He seemed much kinder than the other soldiers I had met.
He addressed even me with respect, as he greeted me by saying “Evening my dear lady!”
He also had a woman accompanying him. She was wearing a similar but blue uniform. She did not speak much, probably a secretary or lower ranking officer.
As soon as they were ready, we started the slow walk back to the ship. I had walked until my feet hurt so I lagged behind a bit. Just as we got half way there, something completely unexpected happened. There was a scream from the woman accompanying the officer.
I looked up just in time to see the confederation officer’s head had exploded and his corpse was falling to the floor… then I heard the loud thundering noise of the rifle he had been shot with.
“He’s dead, oh no!” I gasped.
Only one thing rang in my mind. I was going to die! I knew failure was punished by death. I began to feel that familiar bite in my throat again. I was being electrified with more power this time, probably so I could not run away in the chaos. As I succumbed to unconsciousness I lost all sense of what was going on.

I could remember wishing I was back with him. I still remember his face, like a dream. I could see him as clearly now, as he stood admiring me that day.
He was tall and handsome, for a human! He was about 6’1”. He had a scar on his face across his right eye, which was always covered up by that eye patch that was nailed to it. His other eye was green. His hair was short and black. He never kept himself shaved very well. He wore a red uniform that was dressier than the gray tunic that I wear. Although, his had gray trim instead of black, and he also wore a pair of black boots. I wish I had some boots just like them. I had to go barefoot since I ruined the only pair I had.
We were at some fancy dinner party. I was standing next to the door waiting for him to show, so I could guard him during the party. It was just after my last and final engagement. He arrived reasonably late; I could tell he was a little hesitant, as he entered the building. I tried to walk in front of him, but he grabbed my hand and walked beside me into the entrance holding my hand.
I was so surprised by his behavior, so unusual. I tried to hide that we were holding hands but he just walked slower, it was not like him to so openly show his feelings for me. As we went to the Emperor, I could see all the contempt on his and everyone’s face. I was just as confused about his behavior as they were. We walked past the Emperor, and the General let go of my hand. Then the Emperor sat down, and everyone carried on. People drank, danced, and laughed, as I stood in the back of the room ignoring everything.
Later the General then walked over to me and said, “I wanted to congratulate you on a great job on that last engagement.”
The Emperor followed him and added, “Which is why I think you should be rewarded!”
The General stared at me with his good eye. I was too embarrassed to make direct eye contact.
Then he handed me the gold crown I now cherish so much, and he said, “I had this made especially for you.” he graciously put it on my head, as he whispered in my ear, “I’ll get you out, I promise!” I was so confused, and I still am. What was that supposed to mean?
Suddenly I could feel the vibration of machinery, as I woke up, I realized I was back on the ship in my usual room. I knew my time was almost over, I noticed they had taken my dagger. Probably so I could not commit suicide with it. I admit, I had considered it.
I could hear the officers arguing, “I tell you it doesn’t matter, and we’ll be the ones who are going to be finished.”
Then my commander said, “Not if we tell what really happened!”
Then I heard another female voice I did not recognize say, “I will be filing a full report to my government and yours, so I would suggest you watch what you say! The late Regent Mr. Ravore may be dead, but I am not!” Then I heard the hatch to the bridge open and close.
I could still hear them muttering indistinctly, but I did not care, as I just curled up on the bed so depressed. I fell into a restless sleep. I didn’t know what would happen next. I would probably be executed, or worse, experimentation, torture, or even prison. I could hardly imagine what!
When I woke up again, we had landed back home. Just then, my commander burst in with a shock wand in his hand. I got up growling only to fall again when he lunged at me with it. I was too weak from the earlier electrocution to fight back so I did not have the strength to resist when they slapped me in chains, removed my collar, and dragged me off to wherever they were taking me.
“I’m going to die!”

Chapter 2
Escape!
They dragged me to a headquarters building where I was taken inside. We passed down several hallways, and into an office. The name on the sign by the door read, “Admiral Brannon Martinet.” as we entered I could only guess, that I was going to find out my crime and punishment.
As I looked around the room, I could see why Imperialists were so fanatical. The office was decorated with all kinds of statues and pictures everywhere, mostly of previous Emperors. Imperial Dragon insignias were on every wall, and a bust of the current Emperor was sitting on a pedestal towards the back of the room, in front of a huge window. The evening sun seemed to light the room with an almost blood red glow through the crimson curtains. In the center of the room, there was a desk, and behind it was the Admiral.
He wore a red uniform with medals and rankings of all colors and shapes. His face was dark featured and strongly boned; his dark brown eyes had a dark and piercing gaze from his deeply set sockets. He was frailly built but his ghoulish appearance made him seem a quite a bit intimidating, for a human.
“Commander Tosran! Is this the slave?” He asked glaring at me.
“Yes sir. She failed her mission to protect the Regent!” answered my commander. I had not heard my commander’s last name before.
I scoffed at him for blaming me for his mistake again. “So typical, an Imperial never takes the blame.”
Then the officer said, “Yes well, we’ll deal with her as soon as I take care of my business with the new Regent.”
I wasn’t surprised to be ignored while they talked. Slaves seem so unimportant to their masters, no matter what race they are.
“The new Regent sir?” asked my commander puzzled behind me. 
The officer answered, “The woman that was accompanying Regent Ravore. She has been promoted, now she’s the new Regent.”
I could see the worry in my commander’s face, as the Admiral yelled, “From now on, I would appreciate it if you would practice more discrete methods, when you try to cover up your incompetence!”
I was surprised how almost frightened Tosran looked. “You do wish to take your place at the Emperor‘s side don’t you?” he asked almost like a manipulative parent would a child.
“Yes sir.” answered my former superior.
Once again he continued his speech, “Our plans will, go forward. Do you understand?”
My former superior repeated again, “Yes sir.”
“Good, because I’m not giving you many more chances!” The Admiral further screamed at him. Finally he seemed to be finished with his speech, and he paced over to his desk and pushed a button on his desk intercom and yelled into it. “Send in a drone to retrieve the bio form, and tell the regent I'll be right with her.”
He glared at us shouting, “I’ll tolerate no more mistakes! The invasion will begin soon, and if you intend to live through it you won’t make another one!”
Just then, something grabbed me by the collar of my uniform. It was one of those damn mechanical monstrosities that the Empire used for security. It had caught me by complete surprise while I was listening for a hint to what my punishment would be. All I could hear further was, “Send her to the lab!”
I started screaming, wildly struggling, “Tosran you lying bastard!” as it lifted me into the air and took two giant steps back. “It’s not my fault!” I further screamed, as the door shut tight.
I could feel my uniform was starting to tear at the seams as it turned and began walking. “Not without a fight!” I grunted to myself. Thinking quickly in desperation, I just grabbed my shoulders and helped the uniform tear at the seams with my claws, so it would rip exactly how I wanted. Luckily, it did before that stupid thing realized what was going on, and as soon as I hit the floor, I started running as fast as my legs could carry me.
“See you later you dumb trash can!” I yelled mockingly as I ran. I thought to myself, finally I can escape, as I rounded a left corner. I had to hold my chest to keep my uniform from falling off. I almost didn’t care as I was so determined to escape. I was almost sure that I could get away as I ran down a hallway. As I turned another corner to the right, I ran right into a dead end.
“Uh Oh,” I stated in fear. I could hear its metal feet running to follow me. Turning around, I took a few steps backwards towards the end of the hallway. It had just come around the corner and was staring at me with its red glowing cameras. I didn’t notice a hatch in the floor had opened behind me. I stepped back again, and I fell backwards into it. I had fallen into the garbage chute by blind luck.
I slid down the chute and landed on my back in the garbage dumpster. I was in so much shock from the fall I must have blacked out after that.
I woke later when some garbage fell on me. I noticed my uniform had slid down to my waist, so I pulled it back up over my bra in an attempt to retain what little dignity I had. I tied the torn parts together, so it at least did not get in the way. It was a tighter fit but I didn’t care.
Then I looked out through the lid of the dumpster. I could see there was almost nothing in the way between me and freedom. “They call it, Supreme security … hah what a joke.” I mumbled noticing the gate was barely even guarded at all. I looked to see if it was safe to run. I saw there was not much blocking me from the gate so I waited for the security patrol to pass. It was safe after that so, I ran for it.
Suddenly, the alarm sounded just before I got to the gate.
I decided it was better to hide, so I ran behind some barrels just a few feet in front of the gate, by a refueling station. Then I peered over them to see what had happened. The gates slammed shut with a loud thundering vibration.
“I’m trapped!” I muttered, wondering what would've sounded the alarm.
I could hear raised voices, “What’s going on?” said one soldier.
“An unknown force is attempting to infiltrate the base. If you see anything unusual, report it immediately,” answered an officer. I wonder what that could have been about. A minute later I saw a few officers run by so I ducked before I was spotted. I waited for things to calm down. It got deadly silent. I looked to see how many, if any at all were guarding the door.
Just as I peered over the barrel out of nowhere came a huge explosion. Some of the fuel barrels fell over from the force of the explosion, several of them pinned me to the ground. Rather than panic, I tried to lay as still as possible, so as not to attract attention.
Then suddenly, one officer yelled, “You two stay and guard the gate!” “And one of you go and check those barrels, get them secured immediately!” ordered another officer.
I listened for his footsteps; I heard them getting close. I wasn’t sure if I was seen yet, but the soldier had spotted my tail sticking up out of the pile. He yelled, “What the hell do I see here?” then he kicked the barrel off of me.
“Not yet!” I growled as I sprang up. I caught him by complete surprise, as I cut his vulnerable and exposed neck open with my claws. The gun then fell from the dying soldier’s hands. I picked it up, and pushing his corpse aside I ran for the gate.
Now that only the one guard was left, I thought it would be easy to get through the gate. I ran faster, but as I picked up speed my uniform came untied, fell to my knees, and tripped me. I frantically just ripped it the rest of the way off and scrambled to my feet. Which was, just enough time for him to raise his rifle and prepare to kill me on sight.
I was so sure I would die, but just before he pulled the trigger something miraculous happened. Yet another explosion roared and I was thrown backwards a few feet. I had dropped the rifle but, I got up seconds later half naked and only a little stunned. I was very surprised to see the gate was now destroyed, so I took the opportunity to escape through it.
As I ran, I could hear I was being pursued. I looked behind me, and saw a soldier clad in full assault power armor. He was racing to catch me. I ran faster, I could have cared less that I was nearly naked, I was almost free.
I ran a long ways ducking and hiding as much as I could. I came to an apartment complex and climbed to the second floor looking to hide from my pursuer. Just as I passed the fourth door, he fired a grenade at me. It hit the concrete balcony shattering it and burning away at my fur and what was left of my clothes. The force of the explosion threw me completely through the door.
I knew I was going to die!
I lay there for several minutes covered by collapsing debris. I was losing a lot of blood. Suddenly, some of the rubble was pushed aside. I could hear faint voices, “Hey Kyle, over here!” I was hardly able to hear much more, as I fell into darkness, blacking out once again.
I could remember little more than the feeling of falling almost like dreaming except without actually being asleep. I could hear mostly muttering, indistinct voices and sounds, for hours on end. It was an interesting feeling of near death; I had felt this once before. Like the last time I fought for the empire.
I awoke this time, to find myself in an unfamiliar bed. I was naked as I had expected, but my chains had also been removed. I thought I was dead but as I inspected myself, I found several painful wounds, which were neatly bandaged. If I were dead, I doubt I would still have felt pain.
I looked around to see where I was. There were only two doors. It was dark, save for the moonlight through the glass door leading outside to a balcony. I could see as well in the dark as I could in the light. I saw the room was furnished as a typical bedroom. There was a dresser, wall mounted television, and a vanity table with a mirror and matching chair. Because of the furniture, I assumed that the room must have belonged to a woman.
Suddenly, there was a stirring in the corner. I noticed a chair with a sleeping figure in it, which appeared to be a human male.
I silently got up, trying not to wake him. I walked over to the glass door, and looked out to see it was snowing outside. The moonlight was kind of romantic.
Then I heard a voice from the corner, “Where will you go? … Naked, not human … don’t you think you’ll stand out?”
I looked over my shoulder to see he was getting up. I just looked at him terrified and so confused, as he walked over to me. I wasn’t sure what would happen to me next. Feeling so terrified and vulnerable, I just started sobbing.
Someone came in through the other door. I could see the light from the hallway, as a slender built woman entered. She asked, “Kyle, what’s going on?” … “Oh I see, she’s awake … well that’s good.” she then stated as if to answer her own question. “I made some things for her to wear. I had to get creative, but I think they’ll do.” she again said.
She continued to enter the room turning on the light. She said, “Kyle! Stop staring and get out, so she can get dressed.”
I had not noticed he had been holding my hand the whole time. As he left I tried to stop sobbing, while she just began dressing me. I admit it felt kind of strange being dressed like a child would be by their mother but, I was just too petrified to comprehend where I was or what was happening to me.
She began to slide my arms into the straps of my new bra; she talked softly as she did, “It's OK. … You can just relax now, we’re trying to help you.” I just nodded as she continued to dress me. “Kyle told me about what happened to you, literally being blown into his living room after all.” she said.
	I slid my feet into the panties she was holding for me. She had modified them with a tail sleeve to better suit my unusual physiology. As she pulled them up over my tail, she commented in a somewhat hateful tone, “It really doesn’t surprise me, these days the Empire seems to be murdering people right out in public.” 
“This outfit really doesn’t seem fit for a royal.” she said as she picked up the skirt. It was still a bit awkward being dressed in such a manner; the outfit was a simple purple pleat skirt and a white blouse.
“What makes you think I’m royalty?” I asked shyly beginning to feel a little bit safer.
“Oh I must have jumped to conclusions again,” she said, as she helped me put on the skirt. I wasn’t used to wearing such clothing. As I put on the blouse myself, she went over to the vanity, opened the drawer, and picked up my crown from the drawer while she told me, “You were wearing this when they found you, which is why I thought you were royalty.”
“I thought I had lost it when I had escaped. I had even forgotten I was wearing it.” I took it, examining it closely looking for any sign of tracking devices that might be hidden on it.
“Why were they shooting at you?” She asked looking at the Imperial mark burned into my left shoulder.
I pulled the short sleeve down over it. She looked at me and said, “You don’t have to answer me if you don’t want to, I can understand if you don’t even want to talk about it.”
As I put my crown on my head, looking in the mirror; I thought that I probably would have looked better without it. It completely clashed with the outfit. Nevertheless, it was now my only prized possession. I would not allow myself to lose it again.
I gathered my thoughts for a moment, as she left the room. I knew the empire would hunt for me. I decided there was nothing I could do about it for now, therefore I followed her into the hallway where she and the man I now knew as Kyle were talking.
“We should get her to a doctor, I’m pretty sure she needs one.” she said. 
“Yeah, you’re probably right but who can we trust?” asked Kyle.
She quickly answered, “I think I know someone.”
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. He pulled out a gun as she went to answer it, and then told me, “Go back into the bedroom and stay quiet!”
Instead of doing as he ordered, I just hid in the hallway where I could hear. “Oh good, It’s about time. It’s my boss, and don’t get upset, I called him.” said the woman.
I heard the door open, and then Kyle came around the corner putting away his gun.
I asked him, “What’s going on Kyle?”
He just took my hand looking surprised by my knowing his name.  I have an excellent memory for names.
“Come on, it's time I introduced everyone.” he said softly, as he led me by the hand to the living room.
A man in a business suit was sitting on the couch, talking to the woman, “So what was so important to have me come all the way to your apartment.” he said before noticing me as we came in. “Oh, I see.” he said.
Kyle took me to the couch where I sat down. Kyle started introducing everyone, “I think she should at least get to know everyone. This is Lori, and that kid over there by the table, is Alex.”
The other man introduced himself, “And I am Senator Derrick Colstien.”
“So what should we call you?” asked Kyle.
“I have no name. Slaves have to earn that right.” I answered.
The senator remarked, “Well, I can understand why you called me, but are you nuts Lori! If she is found here you could be executed or worse.”
“So now I suppose you’re going to try to cover your own ass too!” Lori shouted frustratingly.
“Enough! Let’s get back to the subject here.” shouted Kyle.
“Well she needs a doctor!” said Lori.
“I think I know of a doctor we can trust but we had better get moving, I will go get my car while all of you get her ready,” said Derrick as he left to retrieve his car. Kyle checked his gun and followed him. “I’ll go with you. Sorry but I can’t be too paranoid at this point.” he stated sarcastically.
“That’s alright, I’m a politician, I understand.” Derrick wittily remarked. 
I waited for someone to tell me what to do while they just left out the front door. “What do I do next? I am so used to being told what to do.” I muttered. “What do I do with freedom?” I sighed.
As I got more depressed, I curled up and wrapped my self in my wings as I always did when I was worried. I did not pay much attention to anything else until…
“You share it!” said the voice of a child. I had almost completely ignored, the young boy who had been sitting by the kitchen table, which I had paid little attention to till now. Now he was standing right in front of me. He stated softly, “That’s what you do with freedom … you share it.”
I looked up at the boy; He appeared to be at the age of twelve. He had the most unusual purple eyes, and his hair was blond. He was scrawny and appeared so much weaker than me. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans. He also was wearing a gun belt, which I found very unusual for such a young human child.
Then Lori came in as he skipped out the door. She handed me a heavy cloak. “Put it on! At least you’ll be hidden even if you’re not inconspicuous.” I of course did as told, as I was so routinely used to. However, I pulled the hood up and put my crown over it.
“Hmm I wish I thought of that! Now you kind of look like one of derricks alien ambassador friends.” said Lori. I just smiled and nodded.
Moments later Alex came in and hollered, “Come on let's go Lori, they're waiting on us!” 
She led me outside where the car was waiting. It was a white limo. I got pushed in first by Lori. I was used to being last in everything, except of course in abusive and perverse jokes. When everyone was in, we started out, as I watched out the window silently. 
Then Kyle said, “You’ve got to have a name. So I'll just let you think of one for yourself.” I just looked at him so lost. “Just let us know when you think of one OK?” he added.
I nodded yet again. I am so used to only being addressed as a slave and punished when I spoke out of turn. I just sat and watched outside until we arrived at our destination. We drove up to this rather large space port. It was nothing like the military landing bases I had seen. There were spacecraft of all kinds and many aliens walking the sidewalks. It was so casual and almost no guards.
“What’s the deal? Why are we at this star port? I thought you knew a doctor?” Kyle Asked.
“I do, but we also need to get her off this world to get to them, and besides if the empire is trying to kill her, we had better hurry.” Kyle didn’t look too pleased at all. 
The senator got out and said, “Just trust me, and wait here, Lori and I will get them to prepare a private shuttle for us.”
As Lori shut the door she said, “We’ll be right back, it won’t take long.”

Chapter 3
Spark of Freedom

It seemed like a longer stretch of time than they had made it out to be. Almost like a couple of hours, as Kyle and Alex had fallen asleep lying across the seat. While the driver, whom I had yet to be introduced to, was playing with some kind of computer.
I wasn’t really tired because of all the rest I had gotten from blacking out, so I just silently sat there waiting and watching the many patrons of the star port carry on about their day. It was so different to the kinds of places I had seen, it was a huge structure. It seemed old, possibly older than the Empire. Its construction looked almost like an enormous athletic sports dome. Except one side was open to huge runways, where several ships were landing and departing.
Finally, they came out and Lori opened the door, as Derrick woke Kyle and Alex. He said in a relaxed almost confident way, “I’ve managed to get my personal shuttle brought out for us.” Lori also added, “Now all we need is a pilot, and I don’t trust the port or Derrick.”
Derrick tried to look innocent, but failed terribly. Kyle then stated, “If I can rest a bit, I’ll fly it.”
Lori said surprised, “Can you fly spacecraft?”
Kyle reassured, “Well I haven’t since I found Alex, but it’s like riding a bike.”
I just slurred my words as I yawned, “Then let’s get off of this living hell hole and go far, far, away.”
Then we drove off to the hanger. We arrived, just as they had finished preparing the private shuttle. It was rather more welcoming than the one I used to serve on. It was long and cylindrical in shape, much like an antique aircraft. It had wings that seemed to serve as solar collectors for powering the ship. At the back and mounted beneath the wings, it had large space engines, and three solar tail flaps stretching out from the sides and top. If it weren’t for the engines, it might have been mistaken for those antiques that could barely even break the planet’s gravity. We stopped short of the entry ramp and Kyle got out first with his gun drawn. As we spilled out of the limo, I heard a familiar sound. Like guns being cocked and readied. I looked up at the airlock and saw Admiral Martinet stepping out of it.
I yelled, “Get back in the car!” But I was too late; we were quickly surrounded by Imperial soldiers.
“Don’t move. I’ve had to kill a few traitors already ... Now throw down your weapons!” Declared the Admiral.
“They’re only traitors if they were loyal in the first place.” I retorted in a fit of bravery and growing anger.
As Alex and Kyle dropped their weapons, he stalked over to me and said, “I should be thankful you hadn’t died while trying to escape. Thanks to your new little spy friends; I may now have the data that they were trying to steal.” He started pacing back towards the others, as he went into an over confident lecture. “Traitorous spies of the Empire will be punished as will all those who oppose order!
Derrick blared out almost stupidly, “You can’t harm a Republic Senator and you can’t kill someone under Republic protection without declaring an act of war!”
The enraged Admiral quickly declared, “I am declaring war! War on chaos … and, I can do as necessary to protect the human order.” I waited for him to pace towards me, while I was assessing a way out.
He carried on with his speech, “I will of course have to explain your death. Tragic it was, What with the accidental reactor explosion and all!”
Just as he was near me I had had enough. I’m tired of running. I could feel an adrenalin rush coming on as I appeared to feel stronger. Then when he was close enough, I grabbed him from behind, and bit down hard into his shoulder badly crippling him, and tearing at his flesh. One of his guards tried to hit me with the butt of his rifle, but his rifle just broke on impact and I felt nothing. I was so strong, with one swift flex I let go of their leaders shoulder, grabbed the soldier with my wings, and hurled him over my head at another guard, which had fired and now killed his own man.

Both Kyle and Alex picked up their guns and began helping me fight them off., killing one more. I could tell that the boy was almost as good a marksman as Kyle. I turned to the next soldier within arms reach. I roared loudly, as he raised his rifle. I just broke his arm backwards, took the rifle, and fired it at his head. Turning my fury on another soldier nearby, I roared at him, but Kyle had already shot him in the head. The rest ran in horror as I had killed two and injured one in no effort at all, bringing their numbers down to two. The bastard only brought six guards with him, which was his worst mistake yet. I was insulted he took me as so easy to take care of with so few guards.
Throwing down the rifle, I walked over and grabbed the Admiral up by the throat, before he could get up and try to run. I held him up to my face. I was taller than him, so he was starting to choke. “I will bring death to you and your precious Emperor!” I proclaimed, while breathing heavily in his face.
“Don’t kill him yet!” Lori yelled.
I was so angry; I threw him at the ramp, knocking him out cold. My anger was wild as I roared, “I just want so badly to tear him apart!”
But Kyle held me back and I started to feel the rage leaving me. Kyle started to calm me down saying, “It’s OK! Hey. He’ll get what he deserves in the end.”
I began calming down slowly, as Lori dragged the unconscious officer on board, and out of my sight. I could see the fear in her eyes as she boarded the shuttle.
I breathed heavily as he continued counseling me. “It’s going to be alright!” he stated in a worried tone, “Don’t sink to their level.” he added. I was mad to tears. I looked him straight in the eyes slouching to my knees catching my breath.
Kyle tried to console me by saying, “You have beautiful eyes … you know that?”
I laughed saying, “I’ve heard that they were ugly, just like me.” we went aboard the shuttle. As I entered the airlock, Kyle said, “Let’s go escape from hell.”
The limo driver had met us at the airlock and declared, “I’ll start the engines, I'm good with fixin things.” he spoke with a somewhat unusual southern accent. He introduced himself, “Howdy ma’am, name’s Jeff by the way.”
I immediately followed him to the engine room. I then helped him check for any signs of sabotage. Although, I was not really very skilled in starship engineering, I could perform basic operations, but I definitely wasn’t an expert. I constantly had to ask him what to do. As we frantically tried to get the ship’s generator to power up He had to tell me what to do the whole way. Everything seemed to be fine to me, so together we began powering up the ship’s engines. It was fast for an antique; I expected it to be rather slower. 
As soon as he told me it was ready for start up, I put on the headset for the ship radio and told Kyle, “No surprises we could find, but I still won’t feel safe till we leave Earth behind.”
I wasn’t too fond of the noises these ships engines make. Kyle of course made it worse by flaring up the thrusters a little early. The feel of ships during take off always made me so nervous. I could only imagine how it must have felt to be in Kyle’s chair right now. It was a long period of no excitement at all after we left the planet behind, which seemed unusual to me. Why weren’t we pursued? I guessed we must have looked almost unimportant mixed with all the other thousands of other ships coming and going. I began to feel a bit board as Jeff was doing all the work. So I decided to go to the bridge. I was just about to walk up there, when the emergency alert lights all lit up. The lights began fluttering wildly and the alarm blared so loud my ears started to hurt.
A shrill male metallic voice uttered, “Error, power flow irregular, Error, warning reactor heat level going critical!”
I could not understand it, “What the hell did I do!” It shouldn’t have been malfunctioning, and then I remembered what the Admiral had said during his rant. Jeff quickly began reacting as his training had apparently taught him and disconnected the power manually. Unfortunately It ruined the on board computer in the process, and the entire ship went dark. I was beginning to get depressed and pissed off at the same time. Thinking about all these attempts to kill me only made me madder. I pounded my fists at a dead control panel screaming in anger.
Kyle came into the room holding a flashlight and asked, “What happened?” 
I was so sick of all this fighting to be free. I just looked at him and said, “I should have known they would sabotage the damn generator.”
He stated the bright side of it all. “At least we didn’t explode, and don’t blame yourself it’s not your fault.”
Not that it made me feel any better, but he was right. I just followed him to the passenger deck and sat down in one of the seats on the front row near the others. Alex was sleeping next to a window shivering from the cold. I walked over and gave him my cloak for a blanket, wrapping him in it while he slumbered.
Derrick, sitting not to far behind him said, “Such a curious child, so young and yet so mature? He’s already pretty good at firing a gun. He seems so young to be involved in such violence.”
I sat back down next to Alex and said, “I’d imagine he is a lot like me. He‘s a strong fighter, but also so lonely and vulnerable inside.”
He just changed the subject, “I’m guessing we can’t get away right now?” and I answered him, “No. were stuck here unless we can figure out a way to fix the computer.” 
Derrick just muttered depressed, “Maybe my mother was right, I should have married that princess!” then he dropped a hand held computer on the floor and walked back to the back of the ship lighting a cigar.
My attention was now shifted on the exact solution to our problem. “Huh?” I picked up the computer and ran excitedly to Jeff. “Hey Jeff, could you maybe use parts from this thing to fix the computer?”
He looked at me and seemed deep in thought for a moment, “Yup, I think it might just do the trick.” He then went back to engineering, and began attempting to rig up a new ship’s computer out of it. It worked but he said he also needed more memory chips from some other less important part of the ship.
“Well you should go to the bridge and get me some more parts, before you go I’ll show you what I need.” he then calmly instructed me on what I needed to do, So I ran up to the bridge, where Kyle was ripping the battery out of the black box. I said as he pulled out his knife, “I think we can get the ship flying again.”
He cut the cord to the battery and stated, “That’s great, and I don’t need an Imperial patrol’s attention so we really don’t need this.”
I told him, “Well Jeff said, we need memory more than we do power.”
Then Kyle asked, “But I thought the generator was broken; why does it need memory?” and I answered as I began borrowing what I needed from the navigation computer, “it isn’t and doesn’t.”
I think I confused him, because he then declared, “You lost me!”
So I replied, “Just be ready to jump as soon as we can get it back up and running.”
He then asked, “Where to?” I answered again as I left for the engine room, “The safest place you can think of!”
I quickly ran back to the engine room and began helping Jeff modify the ship’s computer to use the laptop as a platform to restore most of the ship’s systems. “It worked!” I shouted with much delight, as everything powered up with a few wild sparks.
I ran back to the bridge where Kyle was already powering up for the jump to hyperspace. I noticed the navigation computer was automatically set on a destination but I had no idea where. The ship jerked wildly, as the engines immediately sent us into jump.
Kyle was a bit startled but relieved when he said, “Well I don’t know what we’ll find where we are going, but it’s better than drifting dead in space.”
I didn’t care; I was free. The jump didn’t take long it was only an eight hour flight when the engines kicked us back into normal space. There was a new problem though; the jump used all of our fuel.

Although Kyle wasn’t too unhappy, “Well I guess our luck is holding.” he stated as he unbuckled his harness and got up. “We’re dead in space again, but it looks like we may not be as unlucky as it seems.”
I was a little confused, what did he mean? He further explained, “I know there is an old abandoned space station here that may be just what we’re looking for. It’s on the other side of the asteroid field.”
I inquired, “Is this station an Imperial one by any chance?”
He answered, “Maybe, but I knew some space pirates that had used it as a hideout once, so maybe we can use it too.”
I asked feeling a bit cautious, “Well what if it’s not deserted anymore? And what makes you think it’ll be safe?”
He answered, “Well, it’ll still be safer than we are now, and besides even if the pirates are still there we can bargain off our Imperial hostage.”
I commented vengefully, “Why not kill him and sell them his possessions and uniform?”
He just smirked and said, “Well, as tempting as that is, I think he’d be more valuable alive. Besides if we have to, we’ll just bluff our way out.”
I was a little worried about how we would get to the station but Kyle seemed confident so I just went back with him as he started to explain the situation to the others.
“Well we’re out of fuel, but were not dead yet! We still have an escape pod, which will get us to a possible safe port I know about.” he yelled confidently.
The others didn’t seem to need any instructions, as Kyle led me to the escape pod. As Lori passed Kyle I saw her kiss him and whisper, “Good luck.” in his ear.
Lori and derrick tried to drag the struggling Admiral aboard as well. I noticed they had tied and gagged him with electrical tape. I kicked his head and put him unconscious once again. Lori thanked me and we dragged him to the back of the pod.
Kyle began powering up the pod for launch. I sat down on one of the couches on the side of the pod. Alex came over and decided to lie down in my lap. It was several hours of travel before we would reach the station, and I had also become tired after all this excitement. So I leaned against the wall and fell asleep.

Chapter 4
Purpose of Freedom

Hours passed, it’s been a day since we escaped. It doesn’t seem like so long. Time can be so funny that way, so very much can happen in so little of it.
My nap was restless; all I could do was lay there having nightmares. Strange nightmares, some I couldn’t tell if they were just my mind playing tricks, or somehow memories of my past. My dreams were short; I woke to the sound of proximity alarms. Alex was still sleeping in my lap. He seemed so peaceful. I tried to get up without waking him. Unfortunately he woke up anyway, but he yawned and went back to sleep.
I walked up to Kyle in the pilot’s seat and asked, “Are we there yet?”
He answered, “Not even half way out of the belt, it’s strange. I programmed the proximity to ignore asteroids at far range, so it can’t be telling me that’s what’s coming at us.”
I asked, “Could it be a ship maybe, they could be a rescue possibility, if it’s not Imperial.”
Kyle again answered, “Whatever it is; it’s metallic and has an E.M. signature so it’s definitely a ship, but the real question is, are they friendly?”
I looked out of the cockpit searching for movements besides the asteroids drifting around us. I couldn’t make much out, but what I could see, was that asteroids don’t just float peacefully, they move. Kyle noticed the ship approaching before I did. Unfortunately, I also noticed its markings were Imperial Navy insignia. It was a short range scout ship. It had to come from a nearby base because they aren’t equipped for hyperspace travel.
It sure didn't act like any scout I had ever encountered before, however. It didn’t even bother docking; it just fired a tow cable at us and started pulling us closer to one of the larger asteroids. This behavior confused me; usually they would at least try to contact us over the radio or attempt to retrieve us by opening their cargo hold.
We were almost about to collide against the big asteroid, when all of a sudden we just appeared inside this hanger. Kyle had panicked a bit and had fallen out of the chair. I giggled a bit and helped him up. We all started to gather towards the pods back hatch.
Kyle handed me a pistol saying, “Here, you can’t be too careful.” after which he and Alex readied their guns and waited for what ever was to come through the hatch.
The hatch could only be reopened from the outside once it had been sealed. So whoever brought us here had to open it by hand. It wasn’t long ‘till the hatch opened, and outside stood two fully armed and ready Imperial marines in full combat armor. There was an officer in a black uniform behind them as well.
The marines ordered forcefully, “Drop the weapons, now! Or else, we will be forced to open fire!” threatening us with their rifles.
Kyle obviously knew that a fight here might be pointless, so he looked at Alex and said, “Do it.” and the others including derrick did as ordered. Mine was small enough to hide in my cleavage, so I had hidden it under my blouse before the hatch opened. I had hoped they wouldn’t even notice I hadn’t dropped a weapon. 
The officer came forward and ordered the marines, “Take the Admiral away.” and he looked at me and said, “Well, well, you arrived after all, the Captain has been worried about you.”
Another two marines came aboard and began corralling us out of the pod, and collected our weapons. We all were taken deeper inside the asteroid; the place looked strangely deserted for an outpost. No guards besides our captors, no other personnel. It seemed strange to have so few running the place.
The walls were carved into the rock face, but there was a fiberglass covering between us and the rock. This probably guaranteed a sealed atmosphere. It was almost like the place was built to be totally automated, as we passed a hallway junction I noticed these robotic maintenance units fixing a panel in the wall. We were taken to a large room that looked to me like a control room. There was a chair in the center surrounded by dozens of computers everywhere. Someone appeared to be sitting in the chair but I couldn’t see them clearly as they had their back to me.

	The officer in black walked over to the chair and said, “Sir, the visitors have arrived. Sir.” his discipline was higher than I was used to, that puzzled me a bit as I’d never heard Imperials repeat sir after their statements.
The sitting officer waved his hand at the other officer as he backed away. I was more confused, he wasn’t behaving like any Imperial I knew. And what did they mean by, their Captain being concerned about me
The man in the chair turned around and said, “Well, if it isn’t my favorite ex-slave.” as soon as I saw his face, I couldn’t help but smile. It was the soldier from my dreams. He was the General that had given me my crown. He stood up saying, “I was starting to think you hadn’t made it.” as he came over and started hugging me. 
The others seemed completely confused, as they just stood there dumbstruck. I smiled back at them saying, “It’s alright, he’s an old friend.”
It all finally made sense, all of what I had been through. The gate back on the Earth at my home base, the Admiral’s ranting about the spies. All of this was planned from the beginning.
The spy whom I had only known as ‘sir’ then said, “Don’t worry, were not really Imperial and to prove it I will give you all back your weapons.” he further added as he returned Kyle’s gun, “My name is Jack Marinose, I'm a Confederate Captain, and I should thank you all, for bringing her back to me. I was so worried about her safety.”
Kyle seemed a bit edgy when he took back his gun. He stated a bit crudely, “So even the Confederation has its share of spies?” as he checked to make sure it was still loaded.
Jack continued to explain the obvious, “Yes, we had infiltrated the Empire to find intelligence about some super weapon. We even still have no idea what they were truly planning, I admit even we had a hard time getting away without being seen.”
“We had intended to take her with us, to help prove that something needed to be done about the Empire's slave activity.”
I was starting to wonder at this point, just how far had he gone to help me escape. I unknowingly whispered, “Could he have had something to do with that Regent’s death?”
He had overheard me and shouted, “No I did not! I had nothing, to do with that. … But I am sorry it happened.”
I was a bit overwhelmed by all this, but also a bit relieved. I asked, “Well are we leaving here soon, or can I get maybe a warm shower and some decent clothes first?”
Lori seemed to have my sentiment as well, as she came over and said, “A shower sounds refreshing, can I join you?”
Jack answered my request first, “Of coarse you may my dear, Daniel will show you to a stateroom.” as he waved to the officer in black again.
We just followed Daniel down another hall while the others stayed and talked to Jack. I was so relieved to be away from the Empire. All I could think about was how good it felt. Finally I was truly free, free to make choices, free to do as I wished.
But I also started to think about other things, what about the other slaves? The words Alex said back on Earth when we first met. I could remember them, like the ringing of truth. “What do I do with freedom?” I whispered again without thinking and also answered, “I shall share it!” I knew that now, I had a new purpose, I decided, I would soon free the rest of my kind, from the tyrant they called the Emperor. I just had no idea how was I going to accomplish this revolution?
Lori and I had followed Daniel through the station and back to the hanger, and we were about to board a new starship. This starship was rather unfamiliar to me, it was not like any Imperial design I had seen. It was definitely not hostile in design, but it was lightly armed and heavily armored. It had Confederate markings, so I assumed it was what Jack was going to use for our escape. We boarded it without stopping and I could not really look at it more thoroughly.
We were led on to the passenger cabin's deck, and into this huge stateroom, it was beautiful. It was big enough to house a whole family of Imperial royals.
The officer then reported in a proud tone once we had entered, “The captain has requested that you make yourselves at home in his quarters, as he will be otherwise too busy to use them himself.” he paused then added, “If you ever need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Lori thanked him as he left the room; she seemed to admire the room a little. She seemed as surprised as I was to see such an accommodating bedroom.
The whole place was decorated beautifully. It was more like something I’d expect from a luxury diplomatic transport starship. There was a huge canopy bed on the far back wall, and a large viewing window on the outer hull wall. The bright blue curtains matched the bed perfectly. The walls were paneled with stained wood and elaborately lined with gold trimmings.
Lori walked into the bathroom and apparently didn’t hesitate to make herself at home; she gathered a couple of towels for the both of us. She came back over to me and said, “Well do you want that shower or not?” she then led me into the bathroom. I could see the bathroom was almost as luxurious as the rest of the stateroom. It was more like a royal bathhouse. It had a large marble tub already filled with water steaming with warmth.
Lori had already started undressing; I began to ready myself for the bath as well by removing the gun from my blouse and placing it and my crown on the counter by the sink.
It was kind of awkward when Lori had to help me; she saw I had trouble with the skirt again. When I was finally naked we both climbed into the tub. The water felt so soothing.  It was like nothing I had ever felt before.
Lori climbed in over by some peculiar buttons on the side of the tub, as she asked, “What do you think these do?” … I just shrugged at her.
She then decided to push one, and the water came to life with water jets making bubbles everywhere. I was a little startled by them at first, but they made me feel even more relaxed than before. I leaned back an enjoyed the massaging stream of the bubbles. 
Lori then asked, “Where is the soap? Or maybe bath oils?” as she looked around the tub searching for any bottles or bars that might resemble soap.
This female voice suddenly came from out side the bathroom doorway, “There aren’t any, you just push the white button under the one you just did.” I recognized this voice, rather vaguely. I had heard it before but I could scarcely remember where.
As the woman entered, I quickly noticed it was the woman that had been with the Regent before he was assassinated. I didn’t really notice before, but her ears were large and pointed, like what humans I believe might call an Elf. I had heard of a race similar to humans with that feature before, but I had never actually seen one. She was beautifully built like a strong framed warrior, but she still maintained a slender exterior. Her assets were just as plentiful as the rest of her graceful body. Her skin was also a might paler than most humans. She was wearing a white Confederate uniform just like the old Regent’s. Hers however had a lot fewer medals.
She then stated as she shut the doors behind her, “It’s injected into the water, so all you have to do is scrub yourself clean, it’s much better than just using an archaic bar of solvent.”
Lori then asked, “And who might you be, the Captain’s First Mate, or wife perhaps?”
The woman laughed as she slowly began unbuttoning her uniform, “Well I’m certainly not his wife. Actually I outrank him by quite a few positions really. I give him his orders, when I’m able to contact him without blowing his cover.”
Lori then remarked, “So you’re actually the one in charge here?”
She paused for a moment, and then answered, “My name is Lady Iladra Denmore.” while she began taking off her shirt and added, “and if you don’t mind, I thought I might join you?”
Lori then retorted in a mocking tone, “Well of course milady, if you don’t mind mingling with us commoners that is.” as she pushed the button for the soap.

The Lady then finished undressing, and entered the tub. She stated while the water jets stopped and a foam glazed over the surface of the water from the soap, “Please just call me Illi, titles really bore me.” To my surprise, she sat down closely beside me. Illi was strangely a little friendlier than I was expecting, she seemed almost empathetic towards me.
Lori apathetically said, “I apologize, with all this luxury, I forget I’m not in the presence of royals.” Lori was already scrubbing herself clean with a wash towel. Lori didn’t take very long to clean herself; she seemed in a hurry to finish.
Illi turned to me and said, “I really am sorry for the trouble I might have caused you. … I tried to persuade the Admiral you used to serve under to, well, sell you to me, but he would not have it.”
I was a little apprehensive about the idea of being sold to a Confederate. She seemed a little strangely amorous, sitting so close to me.
She then explained, “Before I was promoted the plan was, to have my superior buy you as a slave.” she paused a moment seeming to think carefully about telling me anything further.
She then continued, “Before we could get to Earth to make the purchase, someone, we don’t know who, assassinated him.”
Lori then quipped, “I am willing to bet it was someone in the Empire. Maybe they were trying to prevent the Regent from finding out about what ever it is, that the Emperor is really planning. Most likely it also had to do with why they even tried to kill this poor slave.” she stated while gesturing towards me with her free hand while scrubbing her legs.
Illi then concluded, “Yes, that’s about what I had thought. But it sure seems like so much trouble for just a single slave. What could you possibly know that seems so important?”
I then thought about what I had heard back in the Admiral’s office, “I overheard some plans being made before I escaped. They said they planned to invade the Confederation, that if my commander planned to live through it he should not make any more mistakes”
Illi seemed rather concerned upon hearing this news, “Well it’s a really good thing you managed to get here when you did because we had almost failed to get what we had infiltrated the Empire for. I am truly glad you could be of such help to us now, I can only think to thank you by giving you the freedom you deserve. 
Lori got up and began climbing out of the tub, “I had better get back to check on the others.” She whispered in my ear as she passed, “stay here and keep an eye on her, just because they seem friendly doesn’t mean we should trust them.” she then tried to find her clothes that had somehow disappeared.
Lori asked agitatedly, “hey! Where did my clothes disappear to?”
Illi swore, “Oh blast, I forgot about the damned Auto Maid.”
She climbed out to help her. She then gave Lori a bathrobe, “Here, this will make do till I get you a gown.” She then walked still naked, over to the wall and opened this large wardrobe that was built into it. The wardrobe was so weird; it had no clothes in it. It was just large and empty.
Illi just yelled at the wardrobe, “Wardrobe, I would like some woman’s elegant attire please?” Then suddenly some outfits began springing out of the back of the wardrobe.
I’ve never seen such devices before, it was so fascinating, and I just sighed, “Wow,” as Illi selected a black dress and shoes while Lori put on a pair of fresh underwear.
Lori seemed a little uneasy, “No, I really couldn’t burden you by taking such a pretty dress and shoes from you. They’re beautiful but…” 
Illi interrupted her, “It’s not a burden at all; you can just keep them both as a gift, for when we get back to civilization, I insist.” Illi seemed a little anxious to get her to leave, which seemed a little suspicious to me.
Lori got dressed and said, “Well I’ll see you later um … uh … well, we really need to find something to call you don’t we?”

	I commented shyly, “I haven’t really picked a name yet but, I was thinking about it.” I just leaned back in the now bubble covered bath trying to get comfortable.
Lori then remarked as she left, “Well don’t rush into it, you should pick one that suits you, OK?”
As soon as Lori left, Illi got back into the tub and sat down even closer to me than before. I felt very confused as she whispered blowing softly in my ear, “Don’t worry my pretty furry little one, I’ll get you cleaned up right away.”
She then picked up a washcloth and began scrubbing some bath oils into my fur. She had probably retrieved them from the wardrobe when I had not noticed. I was so nervous when she was done scrubbing my arms.
She seemed to notice I was tense. She stood up and went over to the shallow part of the tub near the steps, and said, “Come over here, so I can help you scrub those wings.”
I really didn’t know how to react to this; I mean Lori said I should keep an eye on her but what should I do now? I had heard of human women that preferred female company but I had never thought I would get so closed to a non human lesbian. I sat and thought for a few moments while considering her request.
Illi then said, “That’s good, your learning to make decisions.” as she sat down on one of the steps.
I shyly questioned her, “What do you mean?”
Illi answered, “You just decided not to do as I ordered, and I almost expected you to do it without question.” I was still confused as she further explained, while scrubbing herself with the bath oil, “You should learn to decide whether to act, not to do as you’re told. Of course sometimes you have to do things you don’t like, but it should be because you have to, not because you’re told to.”
She then requested, “Please join me over here, so we can help each other clean our backs?”
This seemed like a strange way to get me to decide to come closer, by asking me to do the same thing anyway. I decided to humor her anyway, nervously moving closer.
She must have decided to help me scrub my legs first, because she had me sit on the step while she lifted my leg out of the water. As she scrubbed my feet tickling them a little, I couldn’t help smiling.
She finished the other leg in the same manner, and calmly asked me, “Please, if you could turn around, I’ll help you with those sexy large wings of yours.”
I slowly stood up and nervously turned around. Was she actually enjoying this, or was she actually concerned for me. I was so confused, she began scrubbing deeply, massaging my wings and shoulders. It felt so good! She then continued scrubbing down my back. It felt so good; I didn’t even realize I had started purring.
She started scrubbing shampoo into my hair. I thought this might be a sleazy attempt to force me to lose sight of what she was doing, I stood there blinded by the shampoo, while she got the wash towel. As she washed the soap from my hair, I couldn’t help feeling more relaxed.
She began to finish cleaning herself. I just sat back down on the side of the tub, so relaxed. She now seemed a little tense, as she helped me climb out of the tub.  I was so curious, what was all this about.
We both dried off and I waited, while she went over to the wardrobe and said, “Well, it might be a little hard to get you fitted, but I think the wardrobe could scan your measurements and still work.” as she began pushing buttons on a panel beside it.
The wardrobe then put the clothes from earlier away, and put out a fresh uniform and underwear for her.
I was curious as to what she intended to do to me next, as she walked over and had me raise both arms out to my sides and told me, “Please, don’t move, till its finished scanning you!”
Suddenly a red laser came from the top of the wardrobe, and then streaked across my whole body starting from my head and going down. Illi then had me turn around and repeat the same process again.

She commented, “It might take a while for it to tailor something for you, but why don’t I help you get a little more comfortable.” while helping me put on a bathrobe, like she had done for Lori. The robe wasn’t very comfortable though, it lacked slits in the back, for my wings to fit properly.
She then added, “You look like you could use a manicure and some other grooming.” She put on a robe, and led me out to the couch in the bedroom where we both sat down.
She seemed a little bothered, “I hope I didn’t make you feel nervous earlier? If it’s alright I’d like to make it up to you, for all the trouble you went through to get here.” she said softly.
I had never been treated like this before; I had no idea what to do. I was used to being ordered around, never allowed to speak unless spoken to. It was so strange to be addressed as an equal.
Illi got up and walked over next to a large wall mounted video screen, where she opened a hidden panel and started pushing more buttons. I could only imagine what they did.
After she closed the panel, the shades and curtains then closed, and all of a sudden these unusual looking robots started coming out from another hidden wall compartment.
There were several different kinds; I was so fascinated by how varied they were. They rolled over and began giving me a pedicure and manicure at the same time.
A low beeping noise came from the bathroom, Illi then stated, “I’ll be right back, it sounds like the wardrobe might have some underwear finished for you.” She went back into the bathroom.
I thought it might be best not to let her out of my sight, so as soon as the robots finished I followed after her.
When I entered the bathroom, I could see her holding up a pair of soft light blue silk panties and a matching bra, which she then came over and held to my waist to check for a precise fit.
She then looked at me and said, “Well, they aren’t much, but they look like they’ll do for now.” she paused a moment as I walked over to the wardrobe and looked in the mirror. “You go ahead and put these on, while I go get a surprise ready for you.” She handed me the underwear and left the room again.
I of course dressed my self this time. It felt so pleasing wearing these new clothes. They were so much smoother and prettier than the rags I was used to wearing, Even if they were just underwear.
It all was too good to be true, I was free. I just felt so strange, as if I were dreaming. Even if it were a dream, I hoped I would never have to wake up.
Once I was done I tied up my robe, and went to the bedroom door where Illi met me and took me back to the couch.
She had prepared some hair cutting tools and put a towel on the couch to catch loose hair. She then removed my robe and sat me down in front of her and said, “The least I could do for you is be a good host. You don’t mind if I cut your hair do you?”
I just shook my head in a silent no, as she picked up some clippers. She began cutting my hair and fur coat, like I was some kind of dog. I didn’t mind however as it felt rather nice. When she was done, the wardrobe chimed again, twice this time. She helped me get up and went back to the bathroom. I caught a glimpse of that elusive Auto Maid robot, as I followed her to the bathroom as well.
She had already begun looking through the clothes, as I entered. She then took me over to the mirror saying, “You look good in lingerie.” she went over to get an outfit for me to wear.
She brought me this green fancy party dress that had an open back. It looked very pretty but I thought my bra might show through the back. Illi didn’t seem too worried, as she retrieved my crown from the counter by the tub. She then came back over and began dressing me, similarly to what Lori had done before.
I looked in the mirror while Illi held another behind me so I could see the back. It was beautiful and I noticed my bra was covered by a thin strap, so I was relieved.
Illi then commented, “There you go! It looks beautiful with that crown.” She placed my crown on my head.
I just nodded again, as she then noted, “I’m glad you like it, I can tell. You’re purring!” I hadn’t realized I was so content.
Illi then put on a uniform just like the one she had been wearing earlier, and said as she took me again by the hand, “Your friends are probably worried, let’s go show off your new dress.” she said, as we left the stateroom together.
It was strange to be treated so kindly, and I was still a little unsure of Illi’s intentions. But none-the-less I followed her, as we tried to find our way back to the others. 
I was a little relaxed now, but that didn’t last long. Suddenly the silence was broken by the sounds of an alarm.
I was curious of what was going on, but before I could think Illi began running down the hallways. I tried to keep up as she headed for the control room.
When we arrived Jack was ordering his officers, “Grab all the supplies you can, and get us ready to leave!”
Illi didn’t hesitate to order him as well, “What’s the status Captain?”
Jack answered, “Trouble ma’am, our Admiral prisoner escaped and called for reinforcement.”
Illi wasn’t pleased at all, “Well, then we better evacuate.” she paused a moment looking at Kyle and the others, “That includes our new friends, now move it Captain!”
Jack then stated, “Yes ma’am!” as he sprang into action. First handing me another pistol holstered in a brand new gun belt, “Here, in case we get separated.” then he surprised me by handing me my old dagger back, “I was holding it for you.” he calmly added.
I just nodded as the others joined up with us. Kyle came over obviously admiring my new dress. “Now that’s what I call a royal look!” he said with a boyish smile.
I then primped my hair saying, “Glad you approve, the Elf helped me groom myself too.”
I readied my new pistol, and put on the gun belt. We all ran on down a hallway. Jack led us from the front towards a hanger. I could hear a battle was already starting outside, as the station shook and quaked with incoming fire.
Illi and I were in the rear and she said, “Great! It sounds like the Admiral is really mad now, It’s a good thing these Imperial stations have automated defenses!”
I was curious as I asked, “Is this an Imperial station?” as we continued running.
Illi didn’t get to answer me, as the tunnel began collapsing probably from a direct hit. I jumped into her pushing both me and Jeff back out of the way, as the collapse cut us both off from Jack and the others. Illi grabbed me by the waist and carried me through the closing emergency doorway. She was incredibly strong for someone so thin. As we both picked our selves off the floor, I noted she was wearing a wrist communicator. She turned on the communicator and yelled into it, “Captain! We’re safe but cut off, carry on and we will seek another escape route!”
Jeff had already been standing over me and helped me get up off the floor. I carefully checked to make sure I still had my dagger; it was still in the holster with the gun, right where I had put it, and luckily I was still wearing my crown.
Jack could be heard over Illi's communicator, “Yes ma’am! You should probably try the second level hangers, but be careful and use the ladders, the lift isn't safe.”
She looked at me and said, “Well Sadaria, you sure have a lucky way of changing plans.” as she collected her gun she had dropped.
We headed down another hallway, and Illi opened this side door leading to a ladder. I was surprised how cool and collected she was. Earlier she just seemed like a calm quiet type. We all began climbing down the ladder and came down right inside the hanger Jack had mentioned. It was bigger than the other hanger, and there were several Imperial assault vessels berthed here.
Illi seemed satisfied saying, “Well, at least we have a selection to escape in.”

I commented “Well I can definitely help there. I used to serve on one of these.” as we boarded the nearest assault ship.
Illi headed straight to the bridge as Jeff went directly to the engine room. It was a little familiar; the ship was just like the Crazed Fox I was used to, but a little newer. Jeff began quickly powering up the generator, it was fast too. I could feel the engines were apparently already warming up automatically through the vibrations in the floor as I ran to the bridge.
I then reached the bridge where Illi had already begun flying us out of the hanger. I sat down in the chair by the navigation and communication station.
Illi yelled into the ship com system, “It looks good back there Jeff, make preparations for hyperspace as soon as were cleared of the asteroid field.” Illi seemed a bit tense, as the engines fired up and we lifted off. It was so smooth for such a harsh take off. Illi must be one hell of a pilot.
It was a huge firefight outside the canopy, but strangely they didn’t seem to be targeting us. Illi was dodging fighters and asteroids like she was an ace. The Empire was fast to respond to the Admiral’s distress call. Which had me thinking, why such trouble to rescue one man, even if he was an Admiral?
Illi then stated as she flew us as far from the battle as possible, “When we finally outrun them, we should definitely talk Sadaria.”
I was already starting up the process for hyperspace flight by Jeff’s tutelage, as I stated, “If it’s about my name? I like it!” I couldn’t finish setting the hyper drive warm up till we had a clear safe jump solution, and Illi had to set the destination 
We dodged asteroids ‘till we exited the field. Illi was just as skilled as I had figured, when we exited the field there wasn’t so much as a scratch on our hull.
We were however being followed, an Imperial destroyer was gaining on us, and obviously they had identified us as hostile. Lori slammed the throttle down and tried to put some distance behind us. Jeff was almost ready to jump to hyperspace when the destroyer fired on us.
Illi cursed, “Damn flies, they are getting restless.” as she started dodging more hazards while I finished priming the star drives under Jeff's direction.
Illi then declared to us, “Hang on, I can get us into jump but it’s risky, I don't have a destination set.”
I was a little worried about where we might end up, but it really didn’t matter now.  We were in hyperspace without so much as a clue as to where we were going.
She then slid her chair back and turned to me saying, “Not a bad escape.” then sat back and said, “Well I guess now is a good time to talk.” as she started taking off her uniform vest. She had a green undershirt on, so I guessed she just wanted to get comfortable. I was curious why she had called me by the new name earlier.
I then asked her, “So why the name Sadaria, it’s a good one, and I really like how it sounds but I was curious?”
She answered rather amorously, “It was once the same as a friend of mine, but hers was not so lucky an escape.” she sighed and added, “It would have honored her for you to share it.”
I just listened as she explained, “We were actually investigating a claim about a super weapon that was being built by the Empire. We actually intended to raid the Imperial network for intelligence. You were actually supposed to be just a side objective, the Captain refused to follow orders unless I made an attempt to rescue you.” she seemed a little disturbed as she continued, “I hope that doesn’t make me sound cold!”
I just shook my head and said, “Not at all, you had a job to do, I would have done the same.”
She further continued, “The captain had a backup plan to rescue you, but you escaped the robot on your own. … It was hacked to bring you to him, but well, your luck and all.”
I just giggled a bit and said, “I have a knack for graceful timing.” as I got up and said, “Well, we seem to have about a week’s worth of fuel left, so what do you say we raid this tub’s galley?”

I then led Illi to the ships mess hall. This ship was slightly similar to the Crazed Fox, the ship I had served on when all this had begun. It was however, much larger; it seemed a little less crowded inside its corridors. 
I was also expecting there to be just a small mess hall, with only a single table and small auto ration dispenser. Instead to both of our surprise there was a great deal more.
There were a whole four tables and chairs for each. The circular room was large enough to fit another table, if needed. Also instead of a ration dispenser, there was an adjacent small kitchen complete with a space oven and microwave. The space oven was electric and even sported electric induction burners.
I sighed again. “Wow! This is fancy even for officers, nothing I'd expect in an Imperial design.” I checked the freezer seeing that it was fully stocked with preserved meats and other frozen items. Illi had found some of those nasty Imperial rations and was already preparing to eat it.
I decided to check the pantry and found it fully stocked as well so I grabbed a few canned vegetables and something labeled “Spam”, which sounded like a meat of some kind.
I then opened the vegetables and began prepping the space stove, telling Illi “Once you eat those rations, you’ll reconsider trying a little of this.” as I opened the “Spam”; It smelled a bit like ham to me so I decided to cut it up into small cubes and stir it into the frying vegetables.
I could see Illi trying to choke down the dehydrated rations, while I finished frying up my Spam stir fry. When I was satisfied with the food I put it on some metal plates I found under the counter.
I left the rest sitting on a heat warming pad on the island counter separating the kitchen and mess hall.
I brought over a plate for Illi so she could try it. She gladly put the ration aside and asked, “What is this? It smells much better.”
I answered while swallowing my first bite, “A human dish called Spam Stir Fry. Trust me it’s delicious compared to those rations.”
She reluctantly blew on it to cool it enough to eat, then took her first taste. She seemed to like it way better than the rations humming, “mm-mm” as she devoured the rest.
I then said as I finished mine as well, “I’m glad you like it, I can tell, your purring.”
She laughed as she went to get a second plate. “Well, I suppose its only fair since I gave you clothes, you give me food.” she stated coming back to eat more.
I smiled as she sat down, “I feel like I should be totally honest with you.” she stated in a somewhat subdued tone.
I was curious so I asked, “About what?”
She then answered, “Well, a lot of things. I feel like I should tell you I knew more about the assassination, but I wasn’t responsible for it.” she seemed a bit upset as she further related, “My government notified me about it, after the fact that they had arranged it.”
She then was starting to cry a bit while saying, “I’m not really part of the Confederacy, you see … I’m really only a Senator representative for my race.”
I got up and moved over next to her while she started sobbing, and started comforting her. She buried her head in my chest continuing to cry for a while. I admit it felt a little awkward, but I wasn’t really sure what else to do.
When she seemed to feel a little better I told her, “Don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault! I don’t blame myself for what the Empire does, and you shouldn’t blame yourself for what your people do either.” She dried her tears and seemed to relax a bit, while I continued to explain, “I have been forced to do a lot of terrible things, but neither of us wanted to do them. That is exactly what makes us different from them, we feel bad about it.”
She nodded as she got up and said, ‘I think I’ll go lay down for a while.” as Jeff had found his way to the galley. Apparently he smelled the food.

I thought she might get lost, so I got up to show her the way. As I passed by I apprised Jeff, “There’s food on the counter and plates under it, serve yourself and enjoy.”
He responded, “Thank yawl kindly, I think I will!”
There were slight differences in this ship’s design and the one I had once served on. I was still able to find my way however, by observing the markings on the wall, all Imperial ships had color-coded markings to guide disoriented rookies. It was not only larger but the crew cabins were on the first deck instead of the second. It also had a third deck as well as the cargo pods standard to this design.
As we walked I felt somewhat relieved that she was being so honest with me. At the same time I also felt a little confused as to what her motives might be. I mean she seemed more concerned about what I thought of her, more so than what she was supposed to be doing. I showed her the sleeping quarters. The staterooms were just a bit larger than the ones on the “Crazed Fox”. She went to lie down and I left the room.
I decided to see what the ship had for cargo, so I went to the deck access ladder and climbed down the three decks to find out. All star ships were like a flying sea vessel, there were rarely any elevators aboard starships, instead there were mostly ladders. This was best, because if combat should disable the power on the ship then the crew wouldn't get stranded between decks.
As I entered the starboard side cargo capsule. I found out that it wasn't a cargo module at all; instead it was an assault drop capsule. Basically these were large movable buildings that were compacted and converted from cargo containers. A ship could deploy them on a planet, and set them up in mere seconds of landing. I had even seen the tactic of high altitude drops, where the entire assault drop capsule was dropped directly on an enemy position. This cargo module was designed for just such operations. I could even see that it was armed with bunker defence turrets.
Its contents were all arranged like it was ready for an assault drop.  I noticed that the first room of it was packed like an armory. Racks of Body armor on the outer walls, gun racks in the center, and all sorts of other hand to hand weapons in front of the far back walls. I was willing to bet the port side module was loaded with command and communications equipment. This ship seemed like it was equipped as part of the impending invasion, and I was also willing to bet it was. I started by going to the computer station at the front wall, so I could find out what kinds of crew compliment was intended for this ship. There usually was a hard copy of the manifest and inventory near such stations.
“Well, they may not be top secret plans but at least I can find out what this ship was loaded with.” I said to myself softly while I located the manifest. According to the manifest, I was right about the other modules contents being a command center, but I also found out there was enough equipment to outfit an entire fifteen man company, vehicles included. Though I supposed there could be more as the standard was twenty for an assault. I also assumed they would have not listed the officer’s equipment.
These modules were much more advanced than I was used to. It was obviously meant to be manned by slaves, but definitely run by human officers. I could tell this, based on the fact that the more quality equipment was separated from the rest of the generic and basic equipment. It was all obviously sorted based on rank, because all of the quality gear was made to be used by humans only. It was probably set to be used for the invasion.
There were several lockers lining both sides of the walls filled with assault armor. I noticed some of the armor was fitted for my race, so I could wear it. I decided to try some on but I had to remove my dress to do so. As I was half way undressed, Illi was climbing down the ladder. I continued to finish undressing.
She came over and asked, “What are you doing?”
I answered, “I thought I would see if some of this armor might fit.” I selected an officer’s jumpsuit and put it on.
She seemed a little surprised while she picked up my dress which I had just dropped on the floor. She was seemingly curious and a bit attentive while I got ready to dress myself.
She watched as I zipped up the jumpsuit and entered the locker. Once I had stepped inside the locker it slammed shut and I was locked in total darkness.
I could feel something was being placed around my body, but I couldn’t see anything ‘till a heads up display appeared in front of my eyes. I could now see that some sort of machine was dressing me in some power armor.

Apparently the locker was another clever device my former masters had invented. I had heard of them, they are called a Field Refit Repair device or F.R.R Device for short.
The armor was custom fitted to anyone that entered the locker and even modified it to fit for a man or woman depending on what ever was needed. Once it had finished the locker opened back up.
Illi had tripped over a drop chair and fallen backwards upon seeing me in full power armor. I walked out and helped her up, “It’s OK, Illi it’s just me!”
Illi seemed to relax after hearing my voice, “Whoa, that was so scary for a minute there. You looked like an Imperial security robot.” Illi said with a sigh of relief.
“This armor is so cool, well for an Imperial outfit. As nice as the armor is, it looks terrible in black.” I retorted as I removed the helmet.
Illi had found some controls on the side of the locker and decided to push some more buttons again. “Well’ it looks like I can fix that for you. This thing has some simple options that I can tweak for you, if you want me to, I’ll set it to take it off and modify it.”
She began working with the controls to set the color, but got a bit upset when it refused to cooperate with her. “Lousy computer won’t let me change the color.”
I heard a voice from the ladder, “That’s because the Empire is a bunch of damn conformists!” Jeff had come down to investigate where we had disappeared to. He came over and did something to the controls. And said, “There! I reset it to the factory default settings; it should be easy from there. Just step into the locker and it does all the work.”
I then commented, “While its at it could you tell it to take out some more room in the breastplate, it getting hard as hell to breath in this thing.”
I stepped back into the locker again and it took the suit off just as fast as it had put it on. Once it was done it opened back up and I exited the locker. It then assembled the armor on a special rack that looked similar to a metal dummy. This made it look like it would appear when it was worn. It was amazing to watch it work.  
Illi asked me, “So Sadaria, what’s your favorite color?”
I answered, “Make it blue with white trim. I love my fur colors the best. It isn’t every day I get to wear something I want, for a change.”
It was even more interesting watching the machines repaint and refit the armor. It was certainly fun to watch. Sparks flying everywhere, as it stripped the paint and began repainting it. It was actually fascinating to see all the tools the device used.
No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t help but notice how my former masters were so capable at the art of war. As I looked around the room at all of the Imperial weaponry, the pride was clear. Even as I now faced the really hard task of defying the Emperor, I also knew that I had to admit the pride he had in his Empire. The Emperor had his family seal on everything. I knew that I would have to fight his name, not his cause. He was my creator. And that meant others of my kind would follow him, either blindly by misguided faith, or out of pure fear of him.
My armor was just done in time for the alarms to alert us that it was time to switch shifts for jump monitor watch. Illi decided to take the first shift on the bridge. I decided to take the time to go through the cargo. I spent most of the time getting together some things that I wanted to collect for myself. I felt like I had earned the right to claim my own things. If I fought this hard to be free, I guess I just wanted to feel like it was worth it.
The rest of the first day was used to get the ship ready for when we exited the jump to wherever we would end up; Mostly inventorying the emergency gear in case we needed to make a crash landing.
It was rather boring for the rest of the week in jump space. We took regular turns maintaining the ship. I was used to long trips like this, because all hyperspace jumps could take up a whole week in Earth days. I have absolutely no understanding of how jump hyper drives work, but they all seemed to work at the similar amount of travel times, depending on the distance traveled. In this case it was estimated to be a week by the navigation computer. I spent most of the time getting to know Illi and Jeff.
Illi was very interested in politics; she was always trying to make sure everyone was pleased. Jeff on the other hand, well, he was very laid back. 
On the seventh day, while we were working together in the engine room, I noticed he had a tattoo on his right shoulder, “So Jeff, did you betray the Emperor too, because I won’t hold it against you.” I coyly teased, as I pointed out the Imperial Army tattoo.
He then remarked, “Well, you said yourself ma’am, a traitor only counts if they were loyal in the first place.”
I then asked him, “So what about you, how did you end up here with us? I mean, I doubt you were always a senator’s limo driver?”
He then informed me, “Well actually it wasn’t that long ago, I was drafted into being a technician in the Imperial Corps of Engineers, right up to a few hours before we first met in fact.”
We talked for a few more hours. We compared stories of our service days, even laughed at each other’s jokes, while working on some minor repairs. I had never gotten the privilege of making many friends on my former posting. I felt like I was really getting to know him. He was so smart, especially about how machines worked and how to fix them. I really had learned a lot from him while working together on repairs.
I felt a lot more welcome among my new friends, but I couldn’t help wondering about Kyle and the others. I found myself thinking about Captain Marinose the most. For the first time I actually missed someone. Someone, that I cared a great deal more about. I just wish I had gotten to know him as closely as I was to Illi and Jeff. I could definitely have fought by his side as we freed my enslaved bio form brethren.
I also found myself thinking of Kyle, he seemed so strong and courageous, and yet he was so calm and silent. I had gotten closer to him than I had to Jack. After all, we had fought together to escape, he even saved my life. I was in my new stateroom when the ships Jump Exit alarm sounded, Illi had entered the room just a minute later.
Illi then declared, “We’d better get to the bridge; you’ll need to help me by using the ship’s sensors to find our location, just like I taught you. OK?”
We both went to the bridge just as the ship automatically exited the jump. It was a while ‘till everything made the switch from the jump engines to the thrust drive, so we both looked out the view port to try and guess where we were. We had exited hyperspace into a solar system I had never seen before. Illi was too busy with the pilot controls, to look out the canopy, but I couldn't help tapping her on the shoulder as the three suns were just rising from beyond the planet outside.
It was a beautiful view outside the canopy; we had apparently exited hyperspace right into orbit of the primary planet of the solar system. Which was a beautiful blue and green paradise. It was breathtaking looking up at the planet; it was twice the size of Earth and had a gorgeous rainbow colored planetary ring running horizontally across its equator.
Illi and I both sighed in awe, “Wow, it’s so beautiful!”
Illi began powering up the thrust engines, while I started scanning with the ship’s navigation sensors. It wasn’t long ‘till I figured out the system was uncharted, it not only wasn’t in any Imperial or Confederate archives, but I couldn’t get the sensors to find any signs of local civilization what-so-ever. It seemed a totally primitive and luscious paradise
I told Illi, “It looks like we found a good place to hide. There is absolutely nothing here! No cities, no local civilizations, and certainly no starships or space stations out here.”
She seemed a little worried, “What about a fuel source, is there a place to frontier refuel at the very least?”
I answered her, “Not that I can see from this range, but this thing is too limited to tell if the rest of the system has anything. I can tell however that the planet below has a breathable atmosphere.”
I looked at the readout but I was a little surprised at how far apart the planets in this system appeared from what I could tell. The sensors were rather short range so I could only see two planets and a few moons within maximum range.  Planets here looked ten times farther apart than they are in Sol, my home world system. 
I sighed with amazement at the beautiful sight, “Wow! Three suns, this is so beautiful!” There were three stars taking up a single orbit circling around a single axis in the center of all of the planets. This system seemed to be so much more amazing the more I learned from the sensors. I didn’t get too much time to admire the view much longer however.
Illi seemed a little tense when she looked back at my sensor console; she flared the engines to full throttle yelling, “Damn! We got company, incoming starship.” 
I saw that an Imperial Destroyer came screaming out of hyperspace. It was exactly like the one that had chased us here in the first place.
Illi then blurted, “They are probably the same damn one that chased us through the asteroid field.”
I yelled, “Well let’s give them a good show! Head for that nearby planet and don’t bother being casual about it. I think I have a plan to get rid of them!”
Illi was a bit reluctant to argue, “I’m all for landing there but then what?”
I answered her, “Who said anything about landing? If we crash they'll stop chasing us.” as I started the assault pod drop procedures.
Illi didn’t seem to like my plans she protested, “I have a bad feeling about this, what if we miss?”
I reassured her, “Don’t worry, I never miss, now go back to the port side cargo module.” As the Destroyer fired its weapons, hitting several glancing blows. I then yelled over the ships comm. “Jeff, you better meet me in the starboard side drop module! We’re about to abandon ship!
Illi then activated the ship’s landing autopilot, and unfastened her harness then headed back to the other cargo module as I had instructed. I programmed the ship to draft the atmosphere so I could use the assault pods to land.
I then ran as fast as possible to the starboard side module, meeting Jeff outside the galley. I dragged him by the arms yelling, “Come on hurry, we’re abandoning ship!”
The ship was programmed to drop us at precisely when the ship hit the atmosphere, so the cruiser would be fooled into thinking we had exploded and burned upon entry.
Jeff and I reached the cargo pod, jumping down the ladder just in the nick of time. I helped Jeff up this time, then I ran over and harnessed my self into the chair by the computer at the front of the hull. Jeff chose a seat on the rows of drop chairs across from me.
The readout told me the drop was just about ready when I could feel the blasts of weapon fire hitting the hull. The plan seemed to be working flawlessly; I could feel the clamps release and the rush of adrenaline as we all began free fall. It was exhilarating, the feel of falling as the pod reached an altitude suitable to fire landing thrusters. The sudden shudder of the pod as the thrusters fired sent my heart racing as if it had fallen to my knees. It brought back some bitter, and yet some sweet memories.

Chapter 5
Revelations for freedom

As soon as the capsule hit the ground I knew what I planned had worked, as both Jeff and I unfastened ourselves from the crash harnesses.
The pod began deploying its contents into a fully working bunker, as soon as landing was finished. The gun ports immediately began to open and ready the guns for use once they were needed. It was so fast I was willing to bet that it would have been entirely possible to have shot any assaulting force before the craft had even landed. These posts were pretty amazing feats of wartime engineering, so efficient at what they were needed for, that I began to wonder just how the Empire was so easily admitted into the Confederation of Allied Worlds in the first place.
The communications system automatically scanned for the other capsule’s communication channel. It didn’t take Jeff long to fine tune it, and find the other capsule’s communication signal; this allowed me to talk with Illi.
I could see the transmission camera of her pod on my monitor. She wasn’t visible on screen, but had I needed to guess, I would have said she had a rougher landing. I called out, “Illi, are you OK, you still alive over there?”
I could finally after a few moments later see her climbing up off the floor saying, “Damn that was the roughest landing I have ever survived!”
I laughed saying, “Any landing you walk away from?” as I went back over to the armor locker where I had placed my armor.
Illi seemed a little upset, “So why don’t we ride together next time, then I can throw you onto the floor instead?”
I decided to put on my armor and I got suited up yet again. While doing so I suddenly remembered that the cargo manifest had also stated that this pod had been carrying vehicles. I realized that I had only ever seen half of the pod, so the vehicles must have been sealed in the forward section of the pod.  I looked for a panel or switch to open up the back wall.
There had to be some way to access the rest of the pod so I asked Jeff for a bit of help. “Well, there is more to this pod than we have seen, so how the hell do we get into the rest of it?”
Jeff began working the controls of the main computer at the back of the armory room. I also thought there had to be another level because this pod was tall enough for two stories. It was very cramped together to conserve space when attached to the landing spacecraft. It took a few minutes, but Jeff finally found a way to get into the forward section of the pod. He pushed a button and the entire back wall opened up and folded away to reveal what was waiting on the other side.
Upon seeing that this pod had an entire heavy vehicle depot on the other side of the wall, I shouted with excitement, “Alright, now that’s what I’m talking about!”
I could hear Illi ask over the communications link, “What? What is it? What did you find?”
I yelled back to her, “Don’t worry, you’ll see it when I come to pick you up.” I walked over to the large all terrain personnel carrier truck, waving back to Jeff. I quickly noticed the keys were in the ignition. “Alright, this is a big time score!”
I then climbed up into it, but realized there were quite a few other tanks in the spaces in front of me. I climbed down, and decided there had to be an easier way to get the truck out, than moving all of these vehicles one at a time. I looked at the wall beside the ATPC and noticed a lever labeled “vehicle lift 1.”
I decided it was better to be safe than sorry and I loaded Illi’s armor and some other equipment we might also need onto the truck. Jeff also helped me get the portable cargo crane into the truck bed in case we might need to move something heavy.
He told me, “Well, if you don’t mind I’ll stay here and get this place up to my standards of working order. This is a Drop Troop Depot module, so it needs some setting up before we can really put it to use.”
This structure was pretty well equipped; it had several vehicle hatches in the roof. I could see that there was a sleeping quarters up on the second floor as well. There were also crates up there and all over the place, and I noticed several construction robots activating and already working on several unknown automated tasks.
I quickly pulled the lift lever then ran back to the truck. The truck and I both were lifted up out of an overhead door on the top of the pod. It was rather cold outside and the air gave me a chill. Apparently the fall season had begun on this part of the planet.
As I climbed back up into the truck and looked out over the top of the cab, I noticed the pod was already automatically converting itself into a military depot.  It had even already made some construction robots start building a vehicle ramp for me to drive off the side.  I could barely comprehend the simple nature of how these pods work, they were designed to be used as fast drop basses in huge cargo boxes. It was amazing how self-reliant they were, even carrying their own construction equipment to become fully functional upon any landing in the given site desired.
I could also see that both our pods had landed fairly close together upon this forested level plateau. This position was a very suitable landing site, and a defensible place to set up a forward base. It had tree cover and we had landed on a level mountainside plateau with a Cliff-side, giving us a very clear view advantage of the valleys below. There was also plenty of room to expand into additional buildings if needed.
I thought to myself, “Damn that autopilot couldn’t possibly have chosen a more perfect landing site.”
This world was every bit as beautiful as it had looked from orbit. The sky was a breathtaking display of color. It had a greenish blue and pale fading orange glow in the morning sunrise. The planetary ring that ran its equator was an amazingly beautiful and permanent rainbow, across the horizon. It was just so very beautiful as I looked to the south over the autumn colored forest canopy in the valleys below.
After I was done sightseeing, I decided to really test the suspension and forget the ramp. I started the truck, revved the engine, and floored it steering right off the side of the pod. “Yahoo, this is damn fun!” I yelped as I landed the jump perfectly. I then steered around the back of the barracks toward the other pod.
Illi had already found the exit to her Command Center Pod as I drove up. She seemed surprised to see me as I parked the truck. Illi climbed aboard saying, “You just have to play with your new toys don’t you.”
I nodded smiling as I told her, “I brought you some as well.” pointing towards her armor and the weapons I’d selected for her.
She promptly took off her uniform, I watched her strip, the same way she had done to me, back on the assault Lander when I claimed my armor. She smiled and teasingly flashed her breasts at me. I smiled back, as she then put on the jumpsuit and armor while picking out a sniper rifle and pistol for her holsters.
I noticed that this module was converting to a Command Center, much the same way as the other one was to Military Troop and Vehicle Depots. I commented, “Damn the Empire sure knows how to be really well prepared, don't they?” as I watched a massive communications and sensor dish array rise up and self deploy out of the roof of the building.
Illi responded in a rather worried tone, “I just hope that destroyer doesn’t notice that were down here.”
I reassured her, “I wouldn’t worry, they probably think we died upon entry.” I then added, “Besides they’re not that clever.” 
I then parked a little closer to the building entrance and climbed out of the truck. Illi followed me as I entered the command center. Without all the equipment in the way, it looked a lot less cramped than it did when I saw it on the other building’s computer. It was only slightly more spacious than the other module now, it had all sorts of computers on the back wall, there were what looked like crates full of necessary equipment everywhere. Some crates were even marked as furniture.
I walked over to the main computer center and noticed the planetary radar array was already operational. I could also already see that the Destroyer was leaving into hyperspace. This made Illi seem to relax a bit; I noted she was already beginning to use the radar array to scan the surrounding space to check for where our ship landed.
Illi seemed a bit relieved, “Good at least we don’t have to worry about them anymore.”
I rationalized, “Yes, but unfortunately, were now stranded on this beautiful yet oddly uninhabited world, and with no ship to escape it, I might add.”
Illi pointed to another screen and said, “Maybe not, it looks like our landing craft soft landed near a lake-bed.”
I then sighed “Well, now I just hope my luck holds out and it’s still flyable.”
Illi then stated, “I don’t even care at this point, we’ll just have to look for it later. Right now, I’m just pleased to be alive!” as she went back to the door.
I followed after her to the truck. She seemed a bit distant as she stated, “Well I suppose we should go back to the other building, I hacked and reprogrammed the computer here to recognize us as friendly. So for now we don’t really need to worry about manning this place in the meantime.”
I got back into the truck’s driver’s seat, and began driving us both back to the barracks. Illi sat in the back and napped the whole way. When we arrived back at the tank barracks, the ramp was already finished, so I drove up the ramp, and parked back on the roof's vehicle lift as it had been, before I had found it.
Illi was quite impressed, “Wow, talk about convenient!” she commented upon seeing the troop and vehicle depots, as we exited the truck.
I noticed the lift had a foot activated switch so I stomped it down. I also noticed as we lowered that the construction drones had started building a foundation for a third floor and a building extension to the back of the module.
Illi commented after looking at the barracks, “Good; there’s some beds up there.” as she started walking towards an elevator built into the side of the building.
I followed after her saying, “I suppose we might as well sleep together, seeing as I’d rather not sleep alone and well, we‘re stuck here together.”
She smiled as I caught up with her. I really wasn’t sure what I was thinking implying such a thing to a lesbian. She didn’t seem too bothered by it though. I just followed her into the cramped small elevator. We had to stand very close; I noticed she seemed to be staring straight at my tits.
I just shyly asked, “Illi um, well, are you a, you know, attracted to me?”
She giggled a bit answering, “You mean am I a lesbian? Well, actually I’m bisexual.” she paused a moment, then explained, “That means I’m attracted to both sexes.”
I just laid my ears back and frowned a bit. She then put her hand under my chin and said as she raised my head back up, “Don’t be so embarrassed, it doesn’t bother me if you aren’t.”
I smiled a little more confidently as the elevator reached the top. I was a little shy, as I never really had the chance to get to know someone so closely before.
She stepped out into the barracks saying, “If it bothers you, I promise I won’t force you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with, OK? I promise to treat you with the respect you deserve.”
I followed after her, “I really appreciate how honest you’re treating me.” I stated as I pushed the button to reseal the upstairs bulkhead door.
She stopped next to a bed, “I just think you deserve better treatment than what you have been getting.” she said while sitting down on one end of a nearby bed and began taking off her boots.
I shyly sat down on the bed across from hers, “It doesn’t bother me that you are bisexual or whatever.” I said shyly as she looked me straight in the eyes.
She said chuckling a bit, “That’s good that you understand why I'm being so open. If you don’t mind since you brought it up, what about you?” “Have you ever been, you know, in love with someone?”
I answered, “Well, I’m not really sure if I have decided yet, whether I am straight, bisexual, or a lesbian but if you mean sexually, well then no.”
She then responded chuckling a little more, “Well, not necessarily involving sex. I mean have you ever felt attracted to someone?”
I answered as I casually stroked my own tail, “Well, to be honest, I did have a small crush on Captain Marinose. I just used to close my eyes and dream of him, whenever it got too depressing.”
She made herself more comfortable, as she took off the armor’s breast and shoulder plates and placed them under the bed. Then she lay back down saying with a yawn, “Well, I’m not really too sleepy, but if you want to go to bed I won’t bother you.”
I answered laughing a little myself, “Well you sound more tired than me, I’m not tired at all. I kept blacking out so often on my way here, I got enough rest for two weeks.”
I noticed she had already fallen asleep as soon as I finished talking so I just lay down thinking for a while. When she was deep enough in slumber, I decided to sneak out to the armory. She didn’t even stir as I got up and went to the back of the room where the old ladder access to the ship was already converted to an elevator. This bunker was starting to really take a shape of its own. It was being converted by the automated robotic construction drones. I was always a little untrusting of robots myself. Life forms like me are created by humans and so are robots. I guess I just didn’t like the idea I might be considered a really complicated robot. That and organics tend to not make mistakes that they never learn from. I have often observed obsessive behaviors among robots most intelligent organics would learn to adapt and overcome, such as bumping into an object rather than go around.  I noticed one was trying to walk through a chair. Jeff and I easily helped it move around the chair and it continued mindlessly performing its task. I then sat down in front of the computer and noticed the robots were attempting to build a buried wire network between the command center and the barracks. This was good because the two complexes could then work together cooperatively. 
I could use that when I started the resistance, but I couldn’t help thinking, how the hell was I going to accomplish this rebellion without help? The answer of coarse had already come to me, but where should I start? I needed to get Intel on the Imperial invasion plans and maybe its operations regarding bio form breeding programs. I was willing to bet the base, which we had escaped almost a week ago now, probably was the best answer to both problems.
Jeff had found some jerky meat of some kind, and was chewing it while he worked on the bunker computer. He worked for only an hour more ‘till he got tired. He didn’t take too long before he grew tired enough to go upstairs to sleep. He yawned, “Well, I’m guessing I better be getting some sleep before we start on finding our ship tomorrow.”
I decided to rest as well so I followed him about a minute later. The mornings on this world seemed to come rather later than it does on Earth. I was the first awake only about six hours later. I decided to get the truck ready for our trip to search for our wreck. I had one of the robots load up a large vehicle construction crane. It was compact enough to hitch up to the truck as a large trailer, but there wasn’t enough room on the vehicle lift for both. I decided to solve that problem by moving the truck next to the vehicle ramp then hitching them together on the roof, where I could then move them as we needed.
That took me about another two hours to finish with, which by this time Jeff had apparently woke up Illi. They were both up by the barracks new third floor entrance, which the robots had finished some time last night. We all then entered the new rooms to find a combination galley and lounge had been set up in the first room. This floor’s layout allowed for two other rooms at the moment, community latrine/showers, and a security control room. I decided to put the galley to work. It was just as well if not considerably better stocked, as the one on our ship had been. I cooked the three of us, scrambled eggs, sausage, and bacon for breakfast. Serving it over the windowed counter bar, that apparently was meant to be the officers table. 
Illi seemed to be really focused this morning, “I’ll see if we can find a way to drive over to the ship’s wreck site, in one of the other vehicles before we take the truck.” she commanded, Then added, “I didn’t really see any hill or ramp bridge to get up here yesterday.”
Jeff then assessed, “Yup I suppose your right, we may need to build one if we can.” “I’ll try and see if I can find some explosives and see if I can make a natural one, out of these cliff rocks after breakfast.”
I then added my ideas to the plan, “That sounds like a good idea, a natural ramp would add more camouflage to the base, and I should probably deploy the building camouflage in case we get some visitors.”
Illi nodded in agreement, as Jeff had finished and was already headed off to find the demolition charges. Illi and I ate together then both went off to deploy the camouflage tarps over both of the buildings.
Imperial building drop modules were probably the most impressive feat my former owners ever built. Each module is rectangular in shape when not deployed, usually looking something like a giant rifle clip attached to a landing ship’s hull. Once detached and dropped over the landing zone, the module quickly deploys the landing rockets and parachutes. Upon soft landing, it immediately starts deploying its contents. In the case of our drop module, the barracks first opened the defense gun ports, and then it began activating the robots to start configuring the pod into a permanently fixed building. Depending on the individual pod’s type, each one has all the necessary cargo and equipment to be totally independent and self sufficient for the intended invasion period. In our case, a month’s worth of supplies for an entire full company of marines.
Every pod also has stealth equipment for all of their respective building types. The camouflage tarps were designed to hide buildings in just about any environment, some made of just about any materials needed to do the job. In this case we used the flat gray heavy tarp with some white chalk to blend in with the rocky mountainside; I also added some spots of the local muddy grasses and dirt, to help the cover have more believability. These tarps also had a layer of bullet shielding to add defensive advantages as well as stealth. It took us about six hours to finish stealthing the base. We had started about an hour before sunrise, about six in the morning by Earth comparable time
When we were finally done it looked as though it was two hours close to what passes for noon, or mid day on this world. This planet’s day seemed to be a bit longer than those of Earth’s. I’d say it was about two hours longer than the average Earth day.
I decided to go wash up and cook lunch while Illi checked in on Jeff. I decided to try something creative and easy this time, I boiled some noodles, added some chicken breast meat and beef tips. I then added spices and vegetables and added broth to the water for ramen noodle soup. It smelled so good; I just couldn’t resist tasting it.
I could hear the sound of artillery shell charges fired about the time I had finished serving some bowls of noodles for Illi and Jeff. I could hear the rockslide and blasting caused an avalanche so I ran outside to check for trouble. Luckily upon exiting the door I could see, the rockslide had been controlled and seemed to be working perfectly to create a natural bridge to the valley below. Which was good because some mud packed in with the rocks would eventually allow some grasses or other plants to grow over the rocks making the perfect camouflage.
Both my companions had come back to the barracks to get the truck ready, so I took both of them some noodles. I had already eaten so I continued working for them while they ate.
“I’ll be surprised if we find it all in one piece, high orbit crashes can be pretty gruesome at best.” Illi commented.
Jeff affirmed, “Well, you did say that it landed in or near a lake?” “Maybe it dropped altitude and came in at an angled approach, and if that is the case, then maybe it won’t be a total wash then.”
I had just about loaded all the tools we might have needed. Illi was already starting the truck and Jeff was riding in the crane to make sure it didn’t tip over or something while we drove out there. I decided to use the truck’s G.P.S. system to guide us to the shipwreck. I hoped it landed soft enough to be repairable.
It took us several hours to reach the site. It had apparently landed exactly the way Jeff had assumed, which was good because that meant the autopilot had worked well and done its job. The ship had hit the beach of the lake and slid out to the middle of the water, where it had started sinking. Jeff had removed the tow hitch and started the crane before either of us had noticed ‘till he passed us and Illi had stopped the truck.
The ship was only half way sunk into the lake which was a good thing, the sooner we got it out the less we would have to repair. This was probably due to the airtight nature of starships. None of the hatches were left open so only the lower decks were taking on water at least that was my assumption.
Jeff had harpooned some grapples onto the hull and was already reeling it in before we had even climbed out of the truck. It was almost beached before we decided to jump in and help. It took only a minute and a half to get the ship ashore. I had been right about the hull being sealed. the only reason the ship would sink was accounted to the holes caused by the hit of the destroyer’s weapons fire.
Most of the damage was superficial; however the engines had taken most of the beating. We needed parts that unfortunately we didn’t have.
Luckily however, I was able to link our trucks hand held G.P.S. gear to the base’s command equipment. I was used to using the hand held tactical computers from my years of serving in the Imperial army. I was however terrible on getting it to work for anything besides email to my squad mates.
Illi must have noticed my frustration with the crappy piece of junk, because she showed me how to use it to tell the base’s la-DAR dish to scan the planet’s surface for anything that might help us. It wasn’t long after that, something interesting showed up as a massive metallic object on the screen.

Jeff was very busy with trying to repair the ship, so I decided to have Illi and I take the truck to check out whatever was on my scanner. Whatever it was wasn’t far from where we were, maybe a few miles more to the southwest. From my guessing it appeared to be a large starship with a lot of debris surrounding it. Probably a crash from a long time ago, the readings indicated a deeply eroded crater so there wasn’t any indication of being a recent crash site.
I showed the screen to Illi, “Hey Illi, I think I found something interesting on our scanner.”
She seemed very interested, “Looks like another crash site, well, we should probably check it out in case there might be something we can use and maybe some survivors if there are any.”
We then proceeded to load up anything we might need and headed out for the new site hoping to see something useful. It was quite a while before we neared the site so I just sat in the passenger seat talking to Illi while she drove the truck.
“So uh Illi, do you really believe we can start a rebellion against the Empire?” I asked sounding rather apprehensive. “I mean, we’re only three people against thousands if not billions of troops, and that’s not even mentioning the massive tanks and ships.”
She answered rather wisely saying, “Well, my people have a saying, it only takes but a small stone cast down the mountain, to cause but the most massive avalanche.”
She then further added, “Even though we have so little for now at first, we can still easily defeat the Empire. That’s where we’ll just have to get creative; I was thinking we should start by liberating some of your fellow slaves.”
I also assessed the same thing long before, “That is a task that will not likely be any small feat to accomplish either, my people may be more than willing, but the Empire will no doubt execute any if not all of them in order to stop any revolt.”
“Yes all true, but you mustn’t forget they will be busy with trying to invade the confederacy, and that will likely also give us a rather large ally if things get too heated.”
We were just about entering the clearing where the metallic object should have been. As soon as we cleared the trees I stood up and looked out over the roof-mounted machine gun. The object did indeed turn out to be a massive starship, which had to be almost twice as big as the destroyer that had chased us to this world.
It was a rather large ship, but I didn’t get the impression that it was a military vessel. Nothing appeared to resemble any weapons. It had apparently crashed from a much deeper reentry. It had impacted bow first and most of the forward hull was crushed into the ground beneath the rest of the ship. The most notable thing to me was the fact that it had crashed in such a way that the engines looked as though if we could somehow remove them we could salvage the entire thing.
Who or what ever built this behemoth definitely wasn’t human. It had a rather bulbous and curvy shape to it, nothing like any Imperial or Confederate design. It had symbols carved all across its hull, and from what I could tell it had to be three times bigger in length before the crash than it now appeared. The really sad thing was that there appeared to be no crash survivors.
We parked the truck as close to the main wreckage as we could. Illi was calling Jeff through the truck radio. “Hey Jeff, can you read me, over, Jeff respond.”
Jeff answered, “Yes Ma’am, I read you loud and clear over.”
“Good, do you think you could drive that crane over here? You might want to come over and see this!” Illi commanded.
Jeff responded, “I’m on my way. I can’t do much here without the parts; the crane has plenty of fuel, so I’ll just drive right over without delay.”
I had already climbed down from the truck, and was getting my new climbing gear ready, because we were going to need to scale the wreckage to get to the engines. I had found the gear in the back of the truck, apparently the Empire doesn’t believe in being unprepared. I had to help Illi with hers, but Jeff was arriving just about the time we were ready to begin salvaging.

Debris was everywhere, but it didn’t take long to reach the main hull and begin climbing. The hull was almost totally vertical so we had to grapple several times. It still only took an hour to scale upwards to the rear fuselage. From there it was just a matter of getting the parts we needed. Illi helped me climb up and we both surveyed the engines, it looked like I was right about them being totally intact. I was even willing to bet we could remove them by just cutting them out of the hull.
Jeff called out on the radio, “Hey I’ll be right up in a second, I’ll use the crane to lift up some of this equipment.”
He had totally caught Illi by surprise as he had already ridden the crane like an elevator, “Show off.” she scoffed in frustration.
He was able to use a large crane pallet to lift some heavy cutting torches and other materials and used the remote crane controls to ride up with no effort involved. He even had secured himself to a safety harness to begin cutting the necessary parts for the job.
I decided to take in the beautiful view over the side of the hull. I walked rather close to the edge and sat down. I wasn’t afraid of the height. I knew that if I fell, I could just spread my wings and glide to safety. My wings were strong enough to permit me flight on most low gravity worlds. Back on Earth I could fly with moderate ability, provided I had a high enough ledge to leap from.
I got back up and walked back to the others noticing the creaking of the weakened hull beneath my feet. I admit that sound definitely made me a bit nervous.
I took a few more steps; I could feel the hull collapsing beneath me, and the next thing I knew I was falling. I reacted as my instinct was to spread my wings, but rather than gliding down to the floor, I got tangled in some metal coated electrical cables on the way down. I was suspended inside a rather large darkened chamber.
From my guessing, I had to be somewhere in the power and engine room of this ship. It wasn’t well lit; I could see that there was a lot of equipment near where I was hanging. I could feel that the cables were rather loose so I tried to swing over to the nearby machine. I was able to climb up on top of what appeared to be some kind of generator. From the looks of it the ship’s rather large power reactor. I must have been near about the exact center of the room.
Something above me seemed to be giving off a faint blue florescent glow. I tried to climb up towards it only to fail when another cable snapped. I must have loosened whatever it was, because It had fallen right into my hands, almost like the ship were giving it to me. I felt rather strangely compelled to take it with me. I impulsively put it in my pocket without a second thought.
Something else that was attached to the power generator below me also caught my eye, and seemed to be pulsing with a green light. I easily climbed onto a chair bolted to what should have been the floor. I was able to see it was a canister like device filled with some green glowing fluid. It too placed itself in my hands, but this time I felt something actually place it there. I was a bit startled, by the thought of not being alone aboard this ship.
By this time, Illi had climbed down after me; I could hear her calling me. “Sadaria, are you OK? You aren’t injured I hope!”
I shouted out, “I’m fine! I just had a bit of a tumble, I’ll be right there! Don’t worry I can fly if I have to. I have wings remember.”
She had already climbed right to me by the time I finished talking. She noticed the device I was holding, “What’s that thing you’re holding?” she inquired.
I answered rather distracted while examining it, “I … uh … I don’t know! But it looks like it still works.”
Illi seemed a bit protective as she clipped a safety line to my harness, “Well let’s just get us both back out of here, and we can try to see what it does later.”
I felt rather strangely drawn to the object in my pocket as we were both raised out of the hole I had fallen through. I couldn’t help feeling like it was talking to me, or maybe singing somehow. It was like I wanted to keep it hidden, protect it somehow. I shook off the euphoria as soon as my feet were on solid ground again.
I handed the canister device to Jeff, “Here I found a toy for you, while I was down there!” 
He asked as he looked it over, “Hmm … what do you think it is; some kind of battery perhaps?”
I answered once more, “I don’t know, but it looked useful so I took It.” as I went over to the crane and sat on the ledge of the crane pallet. I found my self subconsciously holding the object inside my chest pocket. It was so weird, I had no idea what it was, but I wanted to keep it.
Illi came over and sat next to me, “You look a little distant, you sure your OK?” she asked calmly, hiding the worry in her voice, “You didn’t hurt your breast did you?” she added noticing the hand in my pocket.
I laughed as I removed my hand. “Heavens no. I don’t have much there to get hurt anyway.” she laughed a bit as she commented,  “Well at least you have enough to need a bigger breast plate!” I couldn’t help noticing her softly stroking my tail as she added, “Besides there still a handfuls worth for most men if they know how to hold them right.”
We both talked a lot of girl talk for a while after that, while Jeff did all the work removing the engines from the wreck. I felt rather relaxed, but yet somewhat tense at the same time. I felt relieved to be free from the Empire. But still, I thought about the slaves I had left behind. I thought about the responsibility I was about to gain in trying to free them.
It wasn’t long ‘till our conversation deviated towards politics, “I wish there was some way to reason with the Emperor. But, as long as he intends to invade the Confederation, then it’s too late for diplomacy.” Illi sighed.
I was free from the Empire, but still enslaved by the Emperor. As I sat and talked to her about it, I realized it more and more. I then told her, “All that I have accomplished, all that I have done, it’s all because of one human. One man rules over me, the Emperor! Even here, he still has control of my actions.” 
I was on a confidence trip as I continued, “I am free from his army, but I am not truly free. As long as his will rules my kind, he rules me.” I suddenly knew at that moment, what my purpose in life was to be. For the first time in my life I had a goal.
After Jeff had finished cutting the necessary parts from the hull, the engines shook and began to fall from the ship. Jeff surprisingly seemed to be completely relaxed while watching them land among the fields of debris and rubble below.
“Don’t worry, I intended them to fall off the hull like that, the rubble below from the collapsing hull beneath it should have prevented further damage from the fall.” he cleared his throat, “well, as long as I cut the support structure properly, relax, they really are a lot stronger built than they look.” he added.
Illi and I just waited for the crane to lower us all to the ground. It was interesting how tall the crane could lift with such a light frame but it still did the job. Jeff was pleased to see that the engines were in good order. They were massive, I hadn’t noticed by how much, at least ‘till I saw the entire thing separated from the hull.
It wasn’t ‘till we were ready to leave I realized that they were way too big to take them on the crane. “Wait a minute, how are we going to take all this stuff back to our ship?” I questioned Jeff.
“Easy, we’ll use these gravity lifts that the crane comes with; they can lift up to a thousand tons each. I’ll set them up in about fifteen minutes while you guys go on ahead and get to the camp. It will be dark soon so we’ll just fix the ship tomorrow.”
Illi then yawned, “Well, thank you Jeff. You did a really great job today; we’ll see you later when you get back.”
I couldn’t help my mind from wandering as we drove the truck to the ship. The sun was just starting to set when we arrived. The ship was draining the water from inside the hull. There was an air space in the hull that had taken on water, however the interior of the ship itself had remained totally dry. All starships had this air space to prevent air leaks causing explosive decompression while in space. In water however this just means that it will sink slower.
The ship’s interior however was a complete mess. Everything that wasn’t secured prior to the crash had now become projectiles when the ship hit the ground. We were however able to find the emergency survival gear and set up a campsite outside the cargo holds. Jeff now needed to fix the cargo doors because they broke loose and fell off when I tried to open them.
“Well that was a fun ride, let’s not do it again!” Illi hollered from across the cargo bay when the doors slammed loudly when they hit the ground scaring her half to death.

“Sorry I wasn’t expecting that either, the pressure of the water must have been the only thing holding them on.” I apologized.
Illi had already gotten one of the inflatable shelters and set it outside and pulled the rip cord. Within moments we had a large silicone tent ready and waiting for us to sleep in. She then set up a separate one for Jeff. He was just returning by the time Illi had set up another one.
I then decided to take the device in my pocket to our tent and put it in a safe place till I could decide what to do with it. I couldn't help looking at it; it was just a round ball with a blue illuminated ring across its center. For some strange reason it was like I had somehow been compelled to keep it in a safe place and I wanted to keep it to myself. I don't know why I hadn't shown it to Illi or at least Jeff; it was like it was making this soft singing hum that just bounced around inside my eardrums. I could only sense this strange feeling of warmth coming from inside the sphere. It was as if it was somehow affecting me without my knowledge. Almost like it was feeling my own concerns for my people, and the worries I had about what I was trying to do. I shook off this weird feeling and put it away for the time being; besides I had other things to worry about right now.
“What is that one for?” I inquired to Illi as I came out and noticed the third tent.
“It’s for the portable shower I’m going to put in it. Along with the clothes washer and drier, and the bathroom I’ll be setting up inside it.” Illi informed me.
I then asked her again, “can I help, or are you planning on hogging the shower all to yourself?”
We then began setting up all of the aforementioned furniture and an additional running water portable toilet. The tents were totally designed for use with all of them. They even had a drainage hose attachment for the washer, shower, and the toilet. We then hooked up a portable generator, ran the drainage hoses to the lake, and hooked up some water barrels to make them work without needing the ships water stores.
It was dark by the time everything was set up. Illi and I decided to shower together to conserve water. It wasn’t even as awkward as I thought it might be. Illi just undressed and I followed doing the same afterward. We both put our clothes into the clothes washer, and entered the shower stall and bathed each other. It didn’t take long for us to bathe, but the clothes weren’t finished washing. Illi had forgotten to get us a change in clothes.
Illi handed me a couple of towels and covered herself with two more. She had to help me do the same; I wasn’t used to such modesty, because I had been so mistreated as a slave. She wasn’t too bothered by it however. Illi was very good at making me feel comfortable; she was kind enough to help me get our clothes moved to the drier. She had separated our underwear, and dried them separately so they would be dry faster. It only took another fifteen minutes to finish. We spent the time hanging up the rest of our clothes on a drying line she hung between the two machines. We both then put our undergarments back on and went to get ready for bed. 
We then covered back up with the towels, and sneaked out to our tent before Jeff noticed we were half naked. As soon as I entered the tent my towel fell off. I wasn’t even bothered though, I was so tired I didn’t even care. I just climbed into a sleeping bag and went to sleep. It wasn’t really a restful sleep however; I had night terrors during most of the night. I had nightmares of my past; reliving some of the abuse I had felt in the Emperor’s rule. It was like a total blur, quick flashes of my past.
But then suddenly, I began dreaming of massive armies fighting, I even saw myself amidst the chaos. I was in full battle gear, much like the armor I’d just claimed. I was leading a charge against the Empire, It all felt so real. I thought to myself “This has to be only a dream.” But then I saw myself fall to my knees, I had been shot, I could feel the bullet, hear the fires, and smell the smoke. “It was so damn real.”
I woke screaming which in turn woke Illi, whom had somehow ended up in the same sleeping bag with me. “What’s wrong baby, did you have a night terror?” she asked with a soothing tone in her voice, while squeezing my breast in her hand without even noticing she was doing it. I blushed so hard I could hardly even think straight, with her other hand squeezing in a place that only embarrassed me even more.
I just tried to relax, as it had apparently only been several hours since we went to bed. We both were still in our underwear, and I decided not to make a big deal about us sharing a bed. She probably climbed in with me while in her sleep anyway. I was still tired, so we both went back to sleep. 

In the morning about an hour ‘till sunrise, I just climbed out of the tent without any thought about being totally naked, right in front of Jeff. I just went to the other tent and retrieved my clothes when I noticed my underwear had disappeared sometime in the night. I also took down Illi’s clothes after I covered up in a towel, which I then returned to her. I then found my underwear underneath where she had been laying and got dressed, before I went to go cook some more breakfast again.
It was just a simple meal of breakfast burritos this time around. Most of the ingredients were already prepared when I unpackaged them. I just warmed them over a small campfire Jeff had built. He helped me wrap the egg, sausage, and onions in the flower tortillas. Illi had just come out to join us in time to share them with us.
“I’m so thankful to be here, I mean, with you people, I’ve been through so much. I feel like I’m not alone anymore.” I sighed between bites of my burrito.
Illi then relented, “Well I’m very glad for you. I feel like I have found meaning for myself as well. Here, I’ve decided what to do for myself, not for my government”
I commented with a slight giggle, “Wow that is so deep!”
Choking on her own laughter she then continued, “Seriously I feel much better now … Maybe in some small way, through finding each other, we just might have found something of ourselves.”
I stated, “I agree, we all seem to feel better since we finally got away from the Emperor and his incompetent lapdogs.”
She added “When I’m here with you guys, I don’t have my government pushing me to do things I don’t feel comfortable with. Here I feel like we have a family.”
After breakfast both Jeff and Illi went to start repair on the ship, so I decided to clean up the campsite and meditate some more. I had been so stressed out I needed to relax.
No matter how hard I concentrated, no matter how clear I kept my thoughts, I just kept dwelling on the dream I had last night. It was like a bad song in my head but it felt too real to be just a dream. I started to wonder if it were somehow a premonition of events to come. Maybe it was just the stress; I mean I am taking a lot of responsibility in the name of my people’s freedom. How can we expect to free the rest of the bio forms with just the three of us and if all this were a vision, how would I somehow acquire this army I seemed to be leading in the dream. It was all so damn confusing to me. I guessed it was just the shock from all the trauma I had been through since I had escaped.
I spent the rest of the day practicing my gun fighting skills. And set up a practice range out of some empty milk cartons I found aboard the ship. It was very crude, but it was effective for what I needed. Illi even helped me with my firing stance. Which is something I had never gotten right, no matter how hard I had tried alone.
I then showed her how to fight with a blade like my dagger and even practiced throwing it at the milk cartons; she was more of a natural to it than I was to using the gun.
Yet another three days went by before our ship finally roared to life with its newly salvaged engines. Jeff had somehow managed to completely rebuild the engines from the other wreck. He had worked non-stop. Illi shortly thereafter flew all of us and the vehicles back to the base, so we could decide what to do next.
The drop lander was just as efficient as the cargo pods it had carried here. It was much larger than the ship I used to serve on and really didn't even resemble the Crazed Fox, at least in terms of shape and condition. Even with all the damage it still looked a lot newer than anything I had ever served aboard. It was shaped much like a giant old twenty first century fighter jet. It had many more guns than any small fighter however.
I was very familiar with the way that the ships defense guns worked. I spent the hours of flight to prep and load each of them. It had mostly point defense missiles, but nearly every inch of the hull was peppered with some form of plasma laser turrets. 
These energy type weapons still used a type of chemical projectile shell. They had a limited supply of ammunition, even in spite of the fact of energy weapons development on ground based versions nearly eliminating the need for projectiles. This was largely due to the fact that outer space lacked oxygen and gravity. This made the ground model useless in deep space. This is because the plasma would not be able to leave the gun’s barrel before detonation. To solve this problem the Empire and even the Confederacy, still had to use a traditional chemical filled shell with a propellant to fire them at the target.
Once we landed back at the base we offloaded the vehicles and the equipment, which took the remainder of the day, so we all decided it was too late for anything else and went to bed.
The next morning we gathered together in the ship’s lounge to eat breakfast and discuss what we planned to do about the Imperial invasion and freeing my people.
I thought we should go back to the station we had escaped in the first place. “We should go back to the station we came from, The Empire wouldn’t expect us to be breaking back into the very place we escaped.”
Illi wasn’t so keen on the idea however, “Well, I’m not too sure, I mean security will no doubt have doubled even though it has been almost two galactic weeks.” she also voiced her concern for the invasion. “No doubt the invasion has already begun, and that is all the more reason to work towards getting together some kind of plan to delay their march, and do it as fast as we can.”
Jeff then pointed out an alternative, “Well we could always try the main planet in that same system. That solar system has a publicly known Imperial mining colony; it will no doubt have some slaves worth liberating.”
We then unanimously voted that alternative as the most likely compromise and started preparing for the trip immediately. From there we loaded up some necessary supplies to make the trip back to the Imperial base located on the main planet in the same system we had left so long ago.
I admit I had mixed feelings, about going back. I wanted to free some of my fellow slaves, but at the same time, I knew that we couldn’t expect all of the slaves we came across to just betray the Empire. Some of them are blindly loyal to the Emperor, they actually believe he is a god. The ones we were headed for now however, most likely will be more than willing to rebel. I imagined they weren’t particularly loyal after being sent to a slaver colony.
I spent most of the time on board ship going over what little effects I could find. I was able to find several uniforms in some cargo crates. Most were almost identical to the one I formerly wore. I decided to use them to hide that I had rebelled, and I thought Illi should wear one when we infiltrated the base too. We wouldn’t have a chance if we went in guns all hot, so I thought the deception was a better tactic. I spent the rest of the trip preparing for our arrival in the next system.

Chapter 6
Finally Freedom
I found Illi on the bridge; she was sitting in the pilot’s chair looking at some re-con photos. I brought her one of the uniforms, “Here you should put this on, when we get to the colony we could pretend to be slaves, while Jeff leads our cover as the sole surviving crew member. That way we could get in without any fighting, you'll then head for the armory while I free the slaves.”
She seemed to like my plan, “Yeah and Jeff will have to sneak around and plant some explosives to help lighten the mood before we escape.” she commented as she once again stripped down right in front of me, and then changed into the slave uniform I gave her. 
We took turns putting collars and shackles on each other, and spent the rest of the voyage preparing for worst case scenarios. Mostly we figured that the ship would have no trouble looking the part of a distressed assault landing gone astray.  The previous rough landing had taken care of any needed damage to qualify playing the part. But the inside needed a lot of cleaning; I spent most of the trip arranging the galley and the infirmary, to be fitting for use after we dusted off to escape.
When the jump travel time had passed yet again, a full week, we all three were on the bridge. Jeff had automated the engines so he could be on the bridge. Once we had exited jump space the proximity alarm went insane with collision alerts. We had exited right off the bow of a shuttle, and Illi had to maneuver the ship really fast to just barely miss colliding with it.
Luckily we didn’t cause any serious damage but the captain of the other vessel was furious over the communications.
He arrogantly demanded, “Whoever you are, you had better have a good excuse for nearly crashing into my ship! I demand that you identify yourself; before I have my escorts blow yours back to the scrap yard from whence it came!”
I decided to delegate Jeff as the one to answer as the commander of our ship. For the one point he was the only human among us, and they would never believe either Illi or I as officers. 
He answered back with our cover story, “This is the distressed landing vessel the I.S.S. Vigilante, and I am declaring a state of emergency! We were part of a top secret campaign and were almost lost upon dust off.”
The other commander responded, “This is the dignitary transport I.S.S. Pen Dragon, I will forgive your poor piloting if your story checks out! But before we can render you aid, I’ll need your full report on your operational status.”
Jeff responded, “I understand Pen Dragon, we lost nearly all of our essential crew and marine compliment including our commanding officer, I am taking the current command of this vessel as acting captain, by rites of succession, set down by royal tradition.” He also included, “At present only myself and two slaves are left aboard.”
The other captain was silent for a while before finally answering, “We have no current reason to doubt your intentions so we will allow you to join our convoy to the planetary base for which we are already destined.” He in turn added the usual warning, “You should consider yourselves fortunate to have survived whatever hell you might have escaped, but be aware I will not suffer any treachery if you should be lying! Our inspection party will be boarding shortly.”
Jeff however kept his cool, “I.S.S. Pen Dragon, I thank you for coming to our rescue; I.S.S. Vigilante, over and out.”
He instructed us, “Both of you should follow me to the ship’s airlock and meet our guests! And expect to be treated as slaves.”
We all went to the ship’s boarding airlock, where the escort cruiser had already sent over a small boarding craft to inspect us. It was docking but the inner airlock door wouldn’t open ‘til the outer door was secured and sealed to atmosphere. Jeff told us to stay back in case things got dicey. He knew that we would be treated as a threat, ‘til they were done inspecting, imperials are suspicious of everything even their own kind. 
We stood against the back wall while the boarding craft finally docked. The outer airlock automatically opened when docking was completed and about six marines piled out into the ship airlock. They were all heavily armed and ready to deal with whatever we had in store for them. Jeff was the first to greet them through the porthole on the inner door. They used the intercom to instruct him to open the inner door which he did without delay. As soon as they entered the ship both Illi and I were strip-searched for weapons. They immediately afterwards proceeded to search the ship ‘til they were satisfied we were not a major threat and all alone aboard the ship.
It took hours to get them to leave and report back to their ship. Illi and I got redressed immediately after they were off of our ship and out of eyesight.
While Jeff apologized for our mistreatment, “I really didn’t expect them to strip-search the both of you. I wish the bastards had some more respect for those that are supposed to be on their side.”
Illi responded, “I’ll get even with them when we get to the base anyways! Besides they better have enjoyed the viewing because I’ll be collecting my viewers fee soon.” as she grabbed a pistol and cocked it, before she put it and a holster on her belt.
We all returned to the bridge. From there it was a two-hour uneventful flight. We were almost about to where we had supposed we would turn into the planet’s orbit and enter atmosphere, when the convoy started to change course. We had changed destination towards space and towards the very space station floating far out in the asteroid field which we had fled a month ago. We were headed towards the wrong base.
The communications came online to the convoys commander ordering, “To all ships, we have new orders, they are as follows, all vessels will come to a full stop at relaying coordinates. We will be awaiting arrival of the rest of the fleet to link up from abandoning the planetary colony. Further orders will be given when fleet arrives.”
I thought what could go more wrong; how would we avoid being found out. “This isn’t good; they must have decided to move into the base at the asteroid belt.”
Illi tried to reassure us, “Looks like my assumption about the invasion was right, but don’t get too worried, at worst they are too focused on the war to be concerned about a single lost drop lander.”
I decided to consider an alternative to fighting our way out of the base and instead, trying to free some of the slaves from the planet. But, as soon as I had considered this plan the fleet from planet side began the rendezvous with the rest of us.
The radio once again came alive with chatter between the ships, “This is I.S.S. Pen Dragon to the Vigilante, please respond, over.”
Once again Jeff answered with the usual groveling, “Yes your eminence, I read you clearly please continue.”
The officer then barked back his new orders, “You are here-by ordered to take on more slaves when you dock with the incoming transport ship. We need to make more evacuation trips to the planet and you have been volunteered to transport as many as possible, Pen Dragon out.”
Jeff once again acknowledged the new orders, “Understood Pen Dragon, we will do as the Emperor commands!”
I thought this would be good for us to be carrying slaves because liberating slaves was our goal all along. Then we would only need to be refueled in order to escape without much risk involved, but then we still had to worry about where to get the fuel.
Illi assessed, “Well, provided they don't send along any guards then at least our first objective is accomplished; now all we need to do is get enough fuel to get out of here.”
Jeff had Illi and I strip of any weapons before the second ship’s docking began. We still had to play the part of slaves once more. Then this large heavy transport came along side, they began docking as soon as they grappled to our hull, and once again several armed guards came aboard a second time.
This time they wasted no time in proceeding to their task at hand. They began marching several slaves in single file lines, to the lower decks. Many were in rather bad shape. “You may use any that have the skill to do so, as members of this ship’s crew, but we recommend getting more officers once we arrive at the new headquarters.” stated the lead marine in charge of the operation.
I watched from a distance, as I looked them over, I noticed a pleasant surprise; Lori and Captain Marinose were among the slaves. They never noticed me. So I ignored them in the hopes that the guards wouldn't be tipped off by their reaction if they suddenly noticed me and Illi. I was also saddened and disappointed at not seeing any of the others, among the slaves brought aboard.
Jeff must have noticed them as well because he Ordered, “Slaves! One of yawl, Go to the bridge and fetch me my command computer and hurry it up!”
I walked away briskly while overhearing the ranking guard over by Jeff, “Here are two remotes to the restraints on each of the slaves, one is for you, and the other one is for whoever you get as the first officer at the next base.” he handed Jeff two of the remotes to the collar devices for the slave collars. He and his men then retreated back to their ship. Then they were gone and we were finally left alone once again to fend for ourselves.
Jeff gave me the remotes and told me, “I want you to go down below and push and hold down this white button, then start holding it to each of their collars, they have been slaves for long enough already.”
Illi asked, “Well then what do we do? Just fly away with no fuel to jump into hyperspace with, or shall I push us all the way back to our new home?”
Jeff responded, “I've already worked out a plan for that, I'll explain on the way, but first we need to get to the bridge. We need to pretend for just a bit longer.”
I went down below and started to do as Jeff asked, but I was met with a warm welcome from Lori. “Oh thank god! Someone we can trust.” She exclaimed. I pushed the button just as Jeff told me, and her collar fell right off.
The captain, came over and I did the same for him, “Well, it’s about time you get to rescue me for a change.” he commented, as I hugged him so tight his back actually popped into place.
I just giggled with warm joy. I handed him the second remote and showed him how to free the rest of the slaves. We both took turns freeing the restraints from each of the slaves. I was starting to enjoy the looks in their faces as we set them all free. Many were eagerly presenting us their restraints while cheering in the joy of freedom. There were a lot of us cramped together in the worst shape possible, many were actually wounded. From either being beaten or worked beyond their limits.  This was what I had waited for all this time, I had forgotten I was wearing a crown, and I was freeing my people from another royal tyrant’s crown. So I could hardly imagine what they all were thinking about at the mere sight of me. I could tell they were all glad to be free from their shackles, but most seemed curious of what would happen next for them. I decided they need to be reassured more then anything. 
They would also need to be healed so I calmly told Lori, “Lori could you please take the wounded to the infirmary, and get Jack to help if you need it, I need to talk to my people for a bit first.”  I knew that I had been bandaged after I was found by Kyle and he didn't look the type to know first aid, so I assumed Lori had been the one who had tended to my wounds. Together, Lori and Jack tended to the ones that were most critical, and moved them to the infirmary.
“I uh, ... I know most of you are probably a little confused and maybe even a little scared right now!” I began into a rather shy and clumsy speech, “But, I want you all to understand as of this very second, we are all free! I serve no crown, and I am no servant of the Emperor! I choose to defy him and his pathetic excuse for a cause!” they began to cheer, and cut me off for a moment, so I waited ‘til they went silent once again to continue.
“Soon, we will be leaving for a paradise. I promise you all! We will be free. I promise you all! We will be alive. I promise you all! We will be in a better place when we land again. I promise you all! You will never have to be slaves, to any tyrants ever again. For far too long have we been laborers for lazy, fake, and arrogant gods! Most of all I promise you all! ... We will fight ‘til all our enslaved kinsman can come with us!”
At first I could barely hear a sound, but then clapping in one corner began. Then soon the room joined and finally, the cheers roared across every corridor of the ship. I could feel the pride in my heart swell, as I now knew what it was to be a freed slave for the first time. I knew I was sharing freedom. I now also knew I had to do something for my entire race.
My people, were all so varied, we all were so different from each other. Some of us looked almost totally human but with weird skin pigments, some had extra limbs, others were stranger still, but even in spite of our differences, all of us, were all the same race. A race named Bioform. We were all made by the humans that played gods and created us. I knew they all looked at me as if I had been some hero, a savior come to liberate them. I felt like I was nothing but a freedom fighter, and that I needed them every bit as much as they needed me.
As soon as I was done with my speech I went to go to the bridge and wanted to find out what Jeff had planned, My only hope was that now we could finally get away for good. When I got to the bridge Jeff met me at the door and said, “Well, I heard all the cheering, so I'm guessing it went well with freeing the slaves.”
I then replied, “They had to be told they were headed to the promised land, so I gave them my first speech.”
He smiled and said, “Well, then it's a good thing I sent you down to take care of them then, Illi and I have made the arrangements to follow the fleet as far as the asteroid belt, after that I'm gonna arrange an accident where we will be separated from the fleet.” he seemed to be rather confident his plan would work, but I still wondered what he was going to do about the fuel problem.
“But what about the fuel we need to go to hyperspace, we can’t just escape ‘til we get enough to make it back to our new home planet.” I pleaded once again.
He just calmly explained, “I have that planned out too, when we escape the fleet we will be near a large gas giant which happens to have some special gasses in its atmosphere, the gasses can be converted to fuel, if Illi can get us there first. I should be able to refine it, without blowing us up, I hope, it can be a tad unstable.”
I was a bit shaken by his assessment that there was the possibility of exploding, but I decided not to dwell on it, and go see to our passengers. I wanted to do some catching up with Captain Jack. I also wanted to know what had happened to the others, did Kyle, the senator, and the kid, all escape? Or would I somehow have to rescue them as well? I had a lot of new questions for the both of them.
Lori was tending to wounded in the infirmary, and Jack was getting his shoulder stitched up. I walked over asking, “You look like hell, What happened to your arm?”
He replied, “Nothing serious, working accident. I suppose you have had much better luck for the past month than we did. So what about the Regent Illi? Did she escape with you? I would guess all this is probably her idea.”
I responded, “Well she did help me, but the real inspiration came to me from a child I met once. He told me what freedom was for.” I paused a bit thinking back to the boy named Alex, it was he that helped me find this new sense of purpose. “All in all, I would definitely say, it was the most likely course of action; at least as far as I can figure.”
He then told his tale of escape, “Well, where should I begin, I guess you could say we were on our way to the Regent’s ship, but we got forced to stay behind when some imperials cut us off from the others. They managed to escape, but I decided to stop and hold them off when I was shot in the leg. Lori got captured trying to help me, she refused to leave me behind, and well you can figure out the rest.”
I decided not to press too much for details, but I had to admit I felt a lot better knowing the others were safe. I still owed Kyle my life for saving me from the imperial marine that chased me to his apartment. I could remember all of it like it was just happening. 
I also decided to help Lori tend to his injuries. I had to start by re-breaking and then splinting his leg for her, I noticed his leg had not healed properly after the bullet passed completely through it. I broke it, so fast he had little time to feel the grievous pain, before Lori had given him the pain killers. I gave him a makeshift crutch made out of a rifle which I had padded the butt, so he could walk on it comfortably. We all went to the bridge together, where Jeff and Illi were waiting ‘til the transports returned. When they did, we had to follow the fleet ‘til we arrived at the asteroid belt.
Jack saluted Illi as he sat down in the chair behind her, “Well ma’am, I see you have everything handled here, so I’ll just sit tight, and heal my wounds back here for a while.”
I took the chair next to him and ordered, “Jeff, you should probably get to the engine room and see to our escape plans if you would please.”
Lori took his seat when he got up and went to do as we had planned. I was much more confident about things now. I felt more in control now, because I didn't have some imperial bastard shocking me into doing their bidding. I was free, I was free to do not only as I needed, but as I also wanted to do. I knew that I needed to do a lot of things I didn't want, but I also knew that if I wanted to share this freedom, I needed to do whatever it took to free the rest of my people.
We followed the fleet for several hours more, until we had come to the asteroid field. Illi was flying us into the field when the ship rocked with a loud explosion. Illi picked up the ship’s radio screaming, “Mayday! Mayday! This is the I.S.S. Vigilante declaring an S.O.S.! We have had an engine room fire, and we are drifting out of control.”
Illi whispered to us all, trying not to be over heard on the radio, “Don't panic! It’s just all a part of the plan.” she then fired the ship’s engine thrusters towards the gas planet before coaxing them into controllable burn out.
We spun around and drifted into the planet’s gravity. One of the other ships attempted to make a rescue but the lead ship came on the radio. “I.S.S. Penn Dragon to the rescuing vessel; return to formation immediately! The Vigilante is drifting into a dangerous cloud storm.”
The captain of the obviously civilian ship interrupted, “This is the galactic trade vessel Resilience, I don't give a damn about you, or your orders I'm rendering aid now!”
Illi commented, “Well his heart is in a good place, even if we don't really need the help.” While she attempted to restart the engines in an attempt to make it appear as if we were trying to save ourselves, but actually it left us drifting deeper into the planets atmosphere. I admit this made me nervous because of the fleet leader’s pointing out the storm looming across the planets surface.
We felt another explosion before we entered the gas giants cloudy atmosphere, Jeff came on the ships intercom saying, “I have some real trouble back here! The main engines just flared out and its getting a bit hot back here!” he then seemed to be using a fire extinguisher as we could hear the sound of him spraying it to put out the fires.
The other ship didn't seem to be following after us; I was willing to assume they gave up the rescue. We could now hear the fleet’s commander vaguely before the radio lost the signal when we entered the seemingly dangerous cloud, “The Vigilante is lost, you will return to formation or be lost ....”
I thought it would be best if I went back to the engine room and helped Jeff. When I got there it was pretty bad, the engines needed major repairs. With the best help I could offer, we both struggled to get them working again but they refused to fire up. 
One of the former slave passengers came in and started pulling some wires out and fixed it faster than Jeff had when he installed them. He was very good at using the tools. I thought he had to have been trained as an engineer just like Jeff. 
Like myself and many of the rest of us, he was the result of animal splicing experiments. In our case we tended to resemble more human bipedal structured biology. But in some extreme cases other results were possible. He was a rather average build, and he also had the features of a leopard. His face gave off an almost enchanting glow through a crystal blue colored eye, he only had one, because the other was covered up by a metal cyborg implant. I guessed he probably could still see through both due to the camera like implant.  His fur coat was a deep black color with tan spots here and there. I noticed him pick up a tool with his tail. He seemed to be able to lightly grasp objects with it, but only in cases where if he could loop it through a handle or a ring attached to the object.
His personality fascinated me as well, we chatted a bit while he worked. It was several more moments ‘til he could finally get the engines to work well enough to begin converting this gas giant’s atmosphere into a hydrogen based fuel source. I was very interested, as he explained the entire process in a way I could actually understand.
I thanked him gladly, “Thank you New Libertarian! All that you have just done; might have just saved the ship.”
He responded, “Its nothing really, What did you mean just now, when you called me a New Libertarian?”
I explained, “It’s what we are going to call everyone we take to paradise with us. We are liberating you all from the cruel emperor after all.” I then placed my hand on his shoulder while I added, “I'm starting a few other new traditions, Ill tell you about them over a celebration feast we'll be having later.”
He seemed to be really relieved when I asked him, “Well, could you do me a favor and help, Jeff here, keep us in flying condition please?
He gave a thumbs up while he responded, “Sure, We aren't going to escape without these engines working, so we might as well be useful refugees!”
I responded, “Thank you my brother; let’s call you Ben from now on, I hope you will like your new name. Mine is Sadaria, by the way.”
I stayed a while to help them start refining the gas cloud into the much-needed fuel. The whole process took another few hours. It wasn't ‘til we had enough to get back to the system we left a week ago, before I could pull myself away. Finally when we had finished, and the engines were working perfectly, I left the room. “Thanks Jeff, and you too Ben. I had better go back to check on Illi and get us away from this system before we get into more trouble.”
I headed up the corridors on the way to return to the bridge and tell Illi that Jeff had fixed everything, and we were already refueled.
After I walked all the way to the bridge, I ran into Lori greeting me, “Well, I take it the engines are fixed and we can leave for safety soon?”
I answered with a nod, “Yes, we have a couple new friends working back in the engine room to keep us from getting stuck again.”
She responded, “Well, then I appreciate your help for getting us out of that mess we had fallen into, I'm going to go back to sick bay and tend to the wounded, I just wanted to thank you for rescuing the both of us.”
I just reassured her, “It’s nothing more than luck really. I mean, what were the chances we ran into one another when we came back to rescue more slaves?”
She restated, “Well all the same thank you anyways.” as she returned to the infirmary.
I decided to check in on Jack and Illi, I entered the bridge just as Illi began flying us out of the gas cloud, having just finished the processing it into fuel. We were finally ready to leave for the promised land, our new garden paradise, I decided to name the planet we were destined for after the legendary Eden of ancient folklore. 
“My dear new libertarians I have good news! We are finally headed to our new home, to a planet in an uncharted system. We had just recently discovered it before we came here to free you all. I have just decided to name this new planet. It shall from now on be known as the planet Eden! That is what we will come to call our new home, the ancient word for paradise.” I shouted over the ships intercom over the deafening cheers of our newly liberated passengers.
After that I had to help Jack get out of his seat, I then led him to the back of the room where I again picked up the microphone to the intercom, “We will shortly be holding a celebration in the Ship’s Galley. For any that are hungry and can't get there on their own, I will personally, be preparing food and drinks to be brought to them.”
The ship once again rocked and rolled in the force of the engines entering hyperspace. Illi seemed to be much more relaxed now that we were finally safely away. “Well, since we’re finally doing some real good, I guess we might as well celebrate.” she said as she picked up a wine bottle and followed after me and Jack.
I stated as we left the bridge, “Let’s go raid the galley for a banquet in the name of freedom!”
We all followed onward to the galley, where I told Illi to go gather a few volunteers to help me prepare a banquet for our celebration. I decided to cook the large pig that was hanging in the freezer; it was large enough to feed many of us and would not take much time to prepare. It was rather fun picking through the other things in the freezer. I could find so many foods to choose from., the hardest thing was deciding what to do with it all. We had set out an additional table we had found in the center of the room, which we had begun to set up in a rather fancy display of a buffet-style dinner setting.
Little by little the new libertarians each found their way to the galley, and they ate, they drank, and sang. Judging from their apparent delight upon seeing the feast we had set up for all of them. I could tell they must have felt, like every dream they ever must have had just seemed to be coming true right before their eyes. I admit I could totally sympathize with them. I felt like I was finally able to really celebrate, as I was doing what I wanted most of all. I was sharing freedom!
It was several hours before I was able to slip away from the kitchen, but when I finally did, I went to my newly claimed cabin, which happened to have also been the captain’s cabin. I changed back into my green party dress and left my crown behind on the dresser by the bed. I tied my hair into a rather elegant braid, it looked better and I finally had grown it long enough to let me be more creative with how I styled it now. When I had finished making myself prettier I returned to the banquet.
I decided to share a bit of soup and bread with Jack, Illi, and Lori. I set up a place at a small table by the wall for the four of us. I was also wearing a white cloth chef's apron, which I had put on when I went to check in on the kitchen. It was only a matter of getting the spices just right when making the soup. When I was satisfied with it, I went out to our table and brought us each a bowl of soup.
I took off the apron and placed it over the back of my chair. I noticed the captain's eye had been admiring my new look, while I passed him a slice of bread and a packaged set of plastic utensils. “Well I'm very grateful that things worked out this way, without meeting you, I don't think my life would be near this exciting.” exclaimed Jack.
He began shyly dipping his bread into his soup, “I'm really glad that things turned out so well, now that we are finally back together. I really missed you since way back before I escaped the service of the Emperor.”
Illi had also changed back to her Confederate Regent’s uniform as well. She was quietly sipping her soup next to me, she seemed to be more subdued now that Jack was here, not even saying a single word.
Lori had just entered the room with a rather blank look on her face. She was wearing green nurse’s scrubs, which were slightly soiled with a little blood. I waved to her shouting, “Lori, over here I've set us all a place. Here have a seat, by Captain Marinose and Illi.” She took the chair across from Illi.
Captain Marinose charmed in, “Please call me Jack, I rather like being addressed as a closer friend than an officer title and last name.”
I handed her a set of utensils, while she helped herself to the bread. “Well, I plan to carry out a revolution against the Empire, but I'm not too sure if I will be able to get either you or Illi back to the Confederation Territories any time soon, at least in time to warn about the invasion the Emperor is staging against them.” I stated in order to start a little conversation.
Illi responded, “I doubt it really matters much now, so I think it’s better if we just stay here and work on setting up some kind of resistance before the Emperor causes any serious damage.” she paused a moment while eating a bit of bread, and further added “Besides, I think our superiors may have just considered us casualties of war by now.”
I was feeling a bit overwhelmed; all of what I have been through. It just seemed to be getting so much bigger and more intense, the more I accomplished; the more responsibility I kept feeling. It was so much to take in really, I mean, the crown on my head almost started to feel like it was getting heavier and heavier. I had no idea how these new slaves would really feel about being led into a revolution by another crown. I also had this nagging feeling of dread; I felt really concerned, “What if this revolt fails?” I quietly mouthed to myself.
Illi seemed to notice my discomfort, “What’s the matter Sadaria? You look worried?” I just sighed, “Well, if your worried about this revolution we’re going to be starting, don't be, I promise you, I will do what ever I can to help make it as easy a transition on you as possible.”
I simply resolved, “It’s not me I'm worried about, it’s the rest of us. These new libertarians are about to be asked to go fight for their own freedom; I don't want them to think of me as a wanted replacement for the Emperor. They might even lose sight of our goals and be reluctant to fight for another crown.”
Lori then confided, “I think, you should let them decide who should lead, hold a vote, you know, like a democracy. That way all of us get the right to our own say.”
I responded commenting, “I don't know about that, I mean, democracy failed in America when the Empire conquered earth. It also seems a bit difficult to get them all to agree on any one course of action, but on the other hand, I also feel we should include everyone in this decision. I just don't know how I'm going to do that without them feeling like I am their new dictator waiting to exploit them.”
Illi advised, “Well, as grave as this matter might be to future developments, I think it’s best for now, if we all just get some rest as we all could use a break.”
We all retired to our own individual beds. I chose to sleep down with the refugees on the lower decks after returning to my cabin solely to retrieve some blankets and a mattress to sleep on. I felt rather drawn to make myself seem as though I was no more important than them. I also managed to fall asleep without having a single nightmare the entire time. It was like I felt their warmth was somehow protecting me, like somehow we were all feeling the same compassion for one another.
The next time I awoke I found myself curled up amongst several of the liberated; it was rather cozy, like being in a community lodging. I carefully got up without waking any one else. I decided it was time I let them all know what was in store for them when we arrived at Eden Prime.
I waited ‘til most of them were awake to pick up the ship’s comm radio, “This is Sadaria, I am the one responsible for your freedom from the Empire, I would like to ask everyone that is not currently attending to the necessary functions of this ship, please, would you all gather in the ship’s forward deck common area. We all need to discuss the future of our freedom.”
Illi shortly came down from the upper decks, “What’s going on, are you sure you want to call this meeting so soon?”
I answered, “Better to do it now, rather than later, besides the longer we avoid it, the harder it will be to convince them I'm sincere. Especially, when I tell them they are free to make their own decisions, I want to really mean it when I do.” I afterward decided to make the first issue be who they would follow in this revolution.
I went back to my room and got my crown. I came back just before anyone had come to answer my summons, and placed it on the table at the center of the room. The room was more like a conference room than a recreational rest area. There was a large screen in the back, a large round table with chairs for twelve people. There were several other folding chairs which I had some of my new friends set up around the edges of the room. I wanted them all to be comfortable when we all made the important decisions.
Once everyone had come and taken a chair I started the meeting, “Well, I suppose we should start this with the most important issues first. You all need to be told where were heading, as I mentioned yesterday, we are headed for a newly discovered planet, one I doubt even the Empire knows about. When we arrive on Eden Prime, we will be free of their rule if not their control.”
A rather strong wolf like male libertarian interrupted me, “How can we be free of their rule if we are not free of their control? What can they truly do to punish us? I say we are free now! Besides the real issue here, is what should we do once we get to this, planet Eden?”
His outbursts were rather expected, I knew the reaction might have been worse, if I had just started this debate while wearing my crown. I wanted them to see me as an equal to them. I don't want them to fight for me; I want them to fight with me, in the name of our new freedom granting government, what ever shape it might take.
I acknowledged his reprisals, “Yes! That is the issue here. What new kind of Empire should we build, or who should rule in it! But, before we get to arguing and bickering, about what we want, and what should be done first. Let’s first agree on the reason for doing any of it.” I paused to let that sink in then continued, “I say the best thing to do with freedom is to share it! That is why I came back to get all of you! And that is why I am bringing you to our new home.”
Another of my fellow libertarian's also expressed his opinion, but did so in a more polite way by standing up and waiting for me to finish. This one I knew; he was the one I had given the name Ben, back when we fixed the engines, so I bowed my head to signal him that I would let him speak.
He stated rather calmly and with confidence, “You gave me a name earlier, Ben was it, now I say that you shared freedom with me in doing so. I want to give all of us the very same freedom, which we all have earned, just by being born. There are more of us back in the Empire who also desperately deserve it too!” he then looked at the other libertarian, the one that had interrupted me the first time, “You, the one who was so eager to interrupt our savior, I share with you Charn,” he dramatically paused catching his breath, “would you share freedom with me?”
The other male seemed to be rather carefully considering his actions for a second, “Well, I guess the only thing to say now is who shall I share with next?”
The entire room slowly began to stand up each chanting, “Share with me!”
I knew this was the start of the revolution I had wanted, but I admit it was still tense, I felt worried that they would still argue over who would lead this rebellion. Further still I also felt concern as to what sort of leadership we should follow. It was all a bit hard to think about, should I just expect them to follow me. Or should I wear the crown as a piece of jewelry, and let them follow each other.
Ben went over to the table and picked up my crown. I was a bit curious as to what he was doing, he then held it up and further stated, “You were wearing this crown, when we first met, yet however, you chose to lay it on this table before we started this debate. You sacrificed it for us, so that it wouldn't influence our feelings towards you.” 
Everyone in the room seemed to agree that this is what was for the best, “I agree with you brother Ben, she should be given the freedom to wear it regardless of what it could represent. It should be taken as a symbol of sacrifice rather than the symbol of royalty.” stated Charn.
So I decided to accept his gesture and put my crown back on while saying, “Yes, I also agree it should not be seen as just a piece of jewelry, but I feel that we should look upon it as a symbol as well. We should follow the cause and not me. I want to give you all the gifts that come with Freedom, but reluctantly I have to ask only one thing in return. That thing is the only favor I request, and that is to fight for all of our goals not just freedom, but the dreams we all will come to share with each other.”
Ben seemed to be rather intent on letting me take on the responsibility of leading this revolution, “Sister Sadaria, I feel like you are hiding behind your modesty, you are the one who chose to come back for us. You easily could have left us behind; you could have just enjoyed your own freedom.”
Charn also took his turn, “My sister, I say we should let everyone that agrees have their say as well, all that agree she should lead us, say I!”
The entire room unanimously agreed at this point. All of them shouted in full agreement of Charn's request. All of them shouting , and cheering on at the mention of this freedom I was about to share with all of them.
Once the debate over my role in the revolution was over, I decided to sway the subject to what was really the important issue. “Now that we have chosen who shall lead us, I think we should discuss next how I shall lead. I think we need to set about building our new government in a way that is nothing like the Empire or what that delusional Emperor has corrupted.”
Charn also had opinions on this as well, “Yes milady, I think we should be governed by our fellow brothers and sisters, but we should also choose to set up some laws to first decide what is and isn't acceptable in our new found society. Laws for both our leaders and new citizens.”
I agreed with this fair assessment, “I agree; I should be responsible for my actions as well as all libertarians. We need to ensure I cannot abuse the trust you have placed in me today.”
It was now just a matter of what to do, in order to ensure that I or whoever succeeded me could never abuse our newly appointed political powers. We all agreed the best way to do so, was to share that power. I decided that rather than just having simple royalty titles, we would divide our leadership into small sects of leadership that would each specialize in given fields, depending on each of our individual skills. Charn and Ben were both then voted to share my leadership.
I was naturally chosen to lead all these caste like sects, as the first of the Leadership Caste. Then I and my “advisers” as I called them, which I had chosen from Illi and my other closest friends, would decide the important matters like the laws and other legal matters of our new government.
I admit I had no idea how to be a diplomat, but as Illi told me, “Sometimes the role of a leader is thrust upon us, but even so, we can only guide the way, not force others to follow us.”
I recommended that Ben be chosen to lead what we would eventually come to call the Scholar Caste. He was so skilled with fixing the ship’s engines earlier, I thought the leopard would be better suited as the one to build our society and set up our skills in other areas besides warfare. I wanted someone to help out should our revolt actually succeed; we would need the skills for building our own homes, ships, and other such amenities. When the war was over, we would need to be able to build our own culture and take our place in this galaxy. He would discuss complex topics in a rather simple ways, as I listened to him, for the first time in my life I could see through him, the value of dreams.
Finally Charn was chosen to be the first leader of the Warrior Caste, his skill with ranged weapons and his ability to fight hand to hand were unmatched so it was a natural choice. He would be responsible for raiding and freeing our brethren from the Empire, and raising us a new army, with each campaign. I knew that we would need his skills, but I worried about his rather forceful nature. He seemed rather ambitious; his motives also seemed to be a bit different from mine.
The celebration following my improvised coronation was probably the greatest relief I felt since I had escaped the Emperor and freed all of them. My revolution was finally happening and I felt really relieved to be accepted as one of their leadership. I felt like I could finally relax. The hardest challenge I was worried about was finally over, but I couldn't help still feeling overwhelmed.

I knew I still had to be careful however, as this Charn person concerned me, because he seemed to be rather opinionated. I thought about his enthusiasm earlier about what we do with our freedom, his actions had me worried. What might his intentions be? He might intend to usurp my position as the new leader. If I were to do something he didn't agree with, would he even tell me? Would he try to work things out with me, or would he just silently persuade others to follow him instead?
I watched him intently, as he held toasts and drank in my honor, he was very strongly built. He however resembled more of a werewolf. His appearance was just like the old folklore of ancient monsters that could turn into humans. His head was exactly proportioned to a wolf and he even had the long muzzle typical of one. He seemed to be fit and very healthy. His fur coat was gray and white just like the typical timber wolf. His tail was likewise shorter and a bit fluffier than mine. He was also taller than me and had several scars and other battle marks all across his body.
Once the more serious matters were finished we all decided to spend the rest of the trip getting ready for landing on our new future home. We had to set about tending the ships maintenance, Ben found at least five others like himself that were gifted in the skills needed however, so I was confident in letting them work.
I could hardly wait ‘til I stepped foot back on Eden Prime. It was so beautiful the first time I had seen it. It seemed like such a short time ago that I was sitting in the cockpit admiring the sunrise. But so much had happened since then I had almost forgotten what it had felt like the first time. It didn't seem so long ago, but it actually was a full week of earth days. I could scarcely believe so much time had passed.
Once the ship exited hyperspace, the familiar view had returned outside the canopy. Charn was admiring the view next to Illi, and I could tell he was just as impressed as I had been my first time as well.
The three suns were rising over the horizon and the equatorial ring was glowing with the mornings light in a beautiful array of dancing colors. It was just as breathtaking as I remembered it. There were clouds all across the atmosphere, so I assumed that winter had finally set in on our base location. When we entered the atmosphere, I could plainly see I was right. It was snowing outside, and there were even more beautiful sights waiting for us at the base. 
We landed near the barracks, the base stealth materials we had put up before leaving, had made it hard to spot from the air unless you knew where it was. So Illi had to cheat, by using the command center's secure beacon to guide her in. I admit the stealth made approach hard, but I would be willing to bet not having them, would certainly prove worse than being spotted and attacked from orbit before we could defend ourselves.
As we each exited the drop-ship, we could see, the rather bright glow from the sunrise made the ground almost glow with the signs of a glorious winter wonderland. Many of my fellow libertarians had never even seen snow before; most had been raised in desolate and harsh conditions.
Before we had left to rescue my kind, I hadn't taken the time to investigate the possible wildlife of this world, having seen no telltale signs before, I had only assumed, at the very least insects and other simple forms were present here. But the many distantly flying overhead birds had now confirmed this for me. I couldn't help walking closer to the cliff-tops and admiring the beautiful sights.
I dusted the snow off a nearby rock and sat down to admire the beautifully vast and surprising sights both below and above us. Some of the newly freed slaves were rather young; you might even judge them as practically children. Most however, were older and probably trained as either a soldier or in hard labor working. There were twenty of us in all, and most were either too young, or too weak to fight in an all out war. I knew that if this revolution were to have any chance, we would need all the help we could get.
The majority of us were busy settling into our new base, setting up their own places to claim as their own. Many were more interested in the idea of actually owning their own possessions. Some fighting over a few odds and ends broke out, but Charn and I were becoming rather gifted at solving such disputes. Charn was becoming quite the enforcer having found ten well-trained soldiers, to form out his first two squads, for his new militia. 
We had to make the weapons and more dangerous equipment off limits, at least ‘til we had assessed what to do with it all. There were plenty of supplies and weapons to keep us maintained for long enough ‘til we decided where our next move in the war would be, but I knew that we still needed to stop the imperials advance before they destroyed our only possible ally. 
This invasion I had heard of; it made little sense to me, why would the Empire attack the Confederation. The confederation had the ships and the manpower to easily overwhelm the Empire. The Empire was out gunned, out manned, and out classed. They couldn't possibly invade unless they had some type of advantage. I was willing to bet there was some secret weapon, or some kind of hidden army, maybe even some kind of betrayal plot the Emperor had worked out, something, to make it all worth this much trouble.
I decided to put my views aside and concentrate on the tasks at hand. We had a lot of work to do in setting up the base’s command center. Ben, Charn, and I went about organizing all of the furniture and equipment so that it could serve our purpose in the conflict we were about to embark on. I set up a council room, with a large rounded table by taking the one from the ship’s lounge area. It had room for twelve chairs, so I thought it would be better suited for important work. It also freed up more room on the ship. Charn set up the barracks security room as his office and war room. While Ben set about building temporary shelters for the rest of our liberated slaves that had yet to come here and join us.
Afterward I felt like they needed some kind of ritual to free themselves from the fear of the Emperor. I took down all the imperial banners and more useless paraphernalia around the base, and gathered them outside. I then lit them, into a massive ceremonial bonfire. We all gathered and celebrated our declaration of independence. I knew this would help them feel like I was leading them for their benefit over my own. I also knew it would help their will to fight for the cause.
Our next tasks took several days to complete. I was busy most of that time helping Charn, to plan our next raid for both men and supplies. Charn had brought with him several bits of intelligence; I didn't press him for his sources, because I was more concerned with focusing our liberation efforts. I probably should have been more cautious but sharing freedom took precedence in my mind. His intelligence reports outlined several hidden listening and invasion supply posts along the borders of confederate space. All of which were as automated as the one we had escaped from. I knew just as much as he did that we needed to take as many supplies as we could so this presented opportunities to raid these hidden places. I only now required the needed slaves to liberate, but that Charn also provided too. He also knew the location of one labor work camp located in a system we could easily get to with our current ship.
I decided to lead this attack personally. With Charn's warriors and Ben's engineering teams I knew it would be only a matter of giving the slaves the means to free themselves. We decided to leave the very next day, leaving behind only the children and infirm to fend for this base we had set up. The defenses were automated so we knew it would be safe to leave them behind without worry.
We left for one system nearby that had a small slave labor camp on a desolate world. We knew there would have been at least some light defenses as the emperor neither cared for slaves nor the equipment that was likely to be found at such camps. Most likely we would only need to kill the all human officers guarding the slaves.
It was an easy change to be leading an assault, rather than following a delusional fanatic with hallucinations of godhood.  I knew if this revolution was to fair any chance of success, we needed to unite ourselves under a common goal. I had decided to attack at the time during the changing of guard personnel. This was more likely the best time to catch them by surprise. We left at early dawn of the following day, but I knew we would arrive at a later time at the “mining colony”. Our ship had almost no trouble at all getting to the system. It was just a matter of refueling at the large gas giant, the same as we had done before after that. We then readied for the attack getting our weapons primed and loaded. We knew the assault would probably be easier than raiding for supplies, but the reality of combat, is that nothing is ever easy. 
We attacked from the dark side of the planet coming from a shallow approach; the ship was equipped with missiles that made quick work of the defense tower over the facility. When we landed there was almost no resistance ‘til we entered the main yards. The one officer we encountered, attempted to surrender, however he was decapitated and then grotesquely displayed overhead while we continued the bloodthirsty march.
As we entered the courtyards, we knew something was uneasily eerie about the lack of activity. It was silent and deserted. I was the first to notice movement at the edges of the yard. Suddenly several of those familiar security monsters came lumbering out into the yards. 
We fired wildly trying to put them down as fast as possible. 

Chapter 7
Revolutions Realized

Upon completing my reading of the declaration, our new brethren joined in our efforts to return to Eden Prime. We were able to find a small transport had landed before we had attacked. This transport had not been used by the officers of the mining camp to escape in, due to some damage it had sustained from a storm which had hit the camp shortly before the attack. This was a fortunate event for us, because there were at least a few hundred slaves here, and not all of them would fit into the ship in which we had arrived.
Although, it was not entirely suitable for our purpose of escape, as it was loaded with the ore and other materials which they had been laboring to mine before our arrival. Also the issue of the damage would mean we would need at least a day to repair it and dump out the ore to make room for them. Most of the new liberated, were able to make short work of prepping it for launch however, with a little help from the gear they had raided from the facility. The ore hauler which was as of yet unnamed, had enough fuel to make the trip home. I let the new libertarians name it as they saw fit. They chose to call it “The Ark of Liberty”.
We then loaded as much supplies into both of our ships as we could and prepared to leave the next day for the promised land. We were even able to salvage and reprogram several of the security drones, they were a bit less armored, but they were still just as effective as light assault support.
It was a rather restful night, as I slept among the libertarians again. I felt all my worries getting lighter as I got closer to my new people. The more I bonded with them the more I felt as though they were sharing my burdens as well as my triumphs.
The next morning I woke to the usual hustle of activity the others had already begun fixing the ship and getting ready for the trip. We had even restocked all of our ammunition by raiding the armory of the mining complex. It took us a full week to make repairs and gather all our supplies but at the end of that week we were more than ready to face whatever challenges we needed to overcome. The “Ark” was completely unarmed, which made me a bit nervous knowing full well the Empire would be sending at the very least a supply patrol this way soon. We left regardless as this was the best we could accomplish on what little resources available.
We left the atmosphere rather uneventfully, but I was right in assuming there would be a patrol waiting for us but apparently the base had some kind of encoded beacon which had sent a distress call out. We were completely surprised to be met by several heavily armed ships and that didn’t hesitate to fire on our convoy without any remorse. We had to hold them off from overtaking the Ark of Liberty. It was a matter of getting our assault ship between their missile cruisers and letting their own weapons disable themselves with their own missiles. Illi was a brilliant pilot, dodging most of the resulting explosions. It was however a short lived victory as the rest of the scout fleet had followed into the fray as well.
There were another two patrol ships and a scout cruiser bearing down on us and gaining fast. The patrol boats weren’t much to worry about, but that scout was faster than we were. Our ship was more maneuverable and we eventually won the battle, by just narrowly out flying them. We had all barely escaped into hyperspace with absolutely no casualties and minimal damage.
The rest of the crew was already preparing for the trip setting about to their usual activity on board ship, mostly practicing their fighting skills and maintaining the ship as needed. This would become a normal situation to me as I just knew there would be several more such narrow escapes in store for the revolution. It was more a feeling of hope knowing I was doing something great for my peoples sakes.
It took a few hours for the adrenaline of the escape to settle down but once things got squared away it was more of a matter of assigning duties and rotating out watch crews for monitoring the bridge and other important ship activities. Starships were a lot like sea vessels in many ways, however if one got too claustrophobic on a boat you could simply go outside, on a space fairing vessel that is rarely an option. Crew’s mental health was a key factor in a ships ability to function.
I could tell several of my crew had more ability to handle this issue better than others, but I chose to leave the morale of the crew to Charn, as he seemed to be the best in motivating them anyways.
Ben on the other hand, had stayed on board the ship during our first attack on the mining colony. He thought it would be best to maintain the ships systems and damage control. He took to trying to teach me how some of the equipment aboard worked. He was actually quite the talented instructor. He explained the concept of F.T.L. travel in a rather simple way.
“Faster than light travel is the great mystery of our civilization. Much like gunpowder no one can fully agree on who invented the jump field drive. Many species have claimed credit as the first, but it has yet been proven as whom the earliest account actually may have been.”  He explained in his slow and dramatic tone of voice.
“In general however the greatest mystery is how the engine actually works, even the most gifted of engineers cannot fully understand how such a device can achieve the speeds and distances the jump engine is capable of.” he continued taking only a moment to catch his breath.
“The only thing that is evident however; is that there is only one working design and all others have the exact same specifications. In some of the oldest explored sections of space, there are large space gates built with the same technology, which are able to propel any spacecraft to even greater speeds than the current modern jump engines.” he finished his lesson of the day, and retreated to his newly claimed cabin/office to tinker in his workshop for hours.
During faster than light travel or F.T.L. activity for short. It became common practice to do every maintenance job that couldn't otherwise be done without a safe starport and equipment. Such tasks were saved specifically for the time during F.T.L. Travel, because it was important to keep the crew occupied and prevent cabin fever. The most dangerous time of space travel is during this long period when the crew cannot go outside the ship.
It all seemed so fascinating, because he was explaining it without even fully knowing how it worked. I was more interested in getting the ship ready for the trip to our home and successfully landed. It took us a full week and two additional days for the jump back to our home world. Once again the whole ship vibrated with the thrust to decelerate into normal space.
I quickly went to the bridge to meet up with Illi. Jack and Lori had stayed behind, and I had arrived just in time to hear them both over the ship’s radio. “Hello again liberators, I would hope your trip went well.” Lori greeted.
Jack also acclaimed, “Unless that other ship coming out of hyperspace, on our sensors just now, is an unwelcome guest, I would assume it went well with the rescue.” I answered his concerns, “Yes they are with us, and they are bringing some more supplies as well.”
Lori then cautioned, “Well I'm just glad to see you coming back in one piece, I was starting to worry. You’re actually a whole two weeks overdue!”
I hadn’t even realized that much time had passed during jump space. “Sorry, it had taken a bit longer than we expected to get the new ship ready for the trip home.”
She then added, “We have set up some room in our small camp for new homes so your guests can look forward to a warm bed tonight.”
We landed about a few hours from nightfall, Lori greeting me at the airlock, as we exited once again to the cold of the wintery air around us. I exclaimed in shear joy, “Lets greet our friends with the same Zeal you showed me when I freed you all from the emperor!”
The ramp to the Ark of liberty had just slammed to the ground by the time we had gathered a welcoming party together. We all shouted as the refugees calmly exited their ship. It was another glorious celebration and my fellow libertarians spared no excitement spreading fresh food and alcohol to our new brethren. We all sang and danced around the bonfires. The music was rather unique, because some of us had fashioned our own instruments from several various items found aboard the Ark of Liberties cargo holds. We also had some rather gifted voices, as well as musicians among us. Particularly Silvian possessed a heavenly tone; she was surprisingly good at uplifting the spirits of those that heard her voice. It was a regular party to be remembered, we celebrated into the night.
I decided that we would mark it as the first holiday for our new empire. I gave a rather rousing speech about it filling my role as a monarch and liberator to my new subjects. I would come to find that decision to be arguably the best I had ever made.
“Freedom Day will now be celebrated annually on the anniversary of this day once a year. We will welcome all the broken, bandage the abused, and share freedom with the enslaved.” the cheering was uplifting, “I promise as long as I draw breath, we will forever remain free, from this day forth, we will crusade against oppression. I will share my freedom, I will bring justice to all, and most of all I will defeat Emperor Callforian!”
Someone had set off fireworks immediately after I had finished my speech and apparently meant to make my words be memorable.
The winter on this beautiful world had begun into full season and the starlit night sky was a vibrant display of wanderlust. So full of colors and stars beyond what even the most skilled astronomer could count in a lifetime. I could look out among them and get lost in the vastness beyond, knowing full well I had the means to explore all of them. Ben and Silvian had already calculated from astronomical data, that this planet had a 400 day calendar. This calendar was based on the standard solar cycle period much like the one used on Earth. 
I had secluded myself from the party after a while when I was able to pry myself from my adoring subjects. I had sat down on my favorite rock by the clifftops staring out across the horizon; Jack had come over and brought me a bottle of champagne.
He poured us both a glass and stated, “You seem to be enjoying the scenery, seems a waste of a good party to be so distant.” 
I commentated rather subdued, “I just wanted to get away from all the hero worship, I have a big enough head without my ego getting pumped up with more hot air.” sighing between sentences, “Besides it’s more romantic sitting out here, looking out over this beautiful new frontier stretched out like a carpet in front of us!”
He just handed me the other glass and said, “Well, you can call me a flatterer, but you seem to have a really poetic knack for words.” he then made a toast, “To new frontiers! New horizons! And newly shared Friends and Freedoms!”
We both sat there for another hour gazing at the stars, I fell asleep just listening to his tales of old war stories. It was a gentle and deep sleep. I never felt so safe than when I was leaning against his shoulder.
It was like I felt around him so long ago, when we were both in the Solaris Empire. he never once abused me, not even back then. He used to make me feel the same way, no matter what; I couldn't help feeling like I was safe. I never let him know about these feelings I felt for him then, but I knew he felt the same way about me now.
When I woke up this time I was in a bed, apparently Jack had placed me here after I had dozed off. He was sleeping in a rather fancy chair in a corner. I assumed he had decided to give me the more comfortable place because he was too much of a gentleman to sleep in the bed with me. It wasn’t as though I would have minded; I admit that thought seemed appealing to me however.
I had even been changed into a rather comfortable nightgown. This only made me curious as to who had dressed me for bed? I put this aside for the time being as I went over to the dresser where my crown was laying, opened the drawer and found a beautiful dress. It was a sparkling light blue gown with lace strings and an open back, it was really pretty. I just knew this fancy bedroom and all inside it, was set aside for me, so I decided to put it on. I went over behind a fold away room divider and got undressed.
Just as I began putting on the stockings that went with the dress I could hear Jack stirring across the room. I continued to dress slinging the nightie over the top of the dressing partition.
Jack shouted as he poured another drink from the liquor cabinet, Good morning Your Highness! I'm glad to see you slept well.”
I responded, “I hope I didn't disappoint you by dozing off so rudely last night!”
He reciprocated, “It's alright; I assure you I was a complete gentleman last night, besides I find your warmth quite comforting.”
I had just finished putting on the dress except for tying up the back, with which I requested his help, as I stepped out from behind the dressing partition. “Could you be a gentleman for me once more, and help me with the back of this dress please.”
He seemed to be speechless looking at me like I was so pretentious, “You are absolutely gorgeous in that dress, I'm nearly breathless I’m so taken by your beauty.”
I walked over to him and turned around so he could help me as I asked. He was obviously skilled at doing so because he did it like he had done it a few times before. I admit my heart almost skipped a beat with him standing so close.
Charn had entered just as we were about to kiss. The mood had been tensed to badly at this point it could have been mistaken for a bad romance movie. He had picked the most perfect moment to interrupt me. “Your Eminence, I beg your forgiveness however the Council of Kings wishes to deliberate on our next course of action in the revolution.”
I responded to him rather irritably, “Of coarse Charn, we'll convene in the council hall below. Also have breakfast served to those that wish at the meeting, I want them relaxed when we address the issues!”
I took my time getting ready, but in the end I was faced with the eventuality, that I would have to face my peers, and fill the role of leader that had been thrust upon me. The shoes that came with the dress were rather uncomfortable so I opted for a pair of sandal slippers that went better with it anyways.
I left my bedroom which had been constructed right above the command center office room while we had been away. As I walked down the metal spiral stairway leading down the back wall everyone in the council was all just as amicable as Jack had been upon seeing me in the dress. As I came over to a rather lavishly decorated chair at the head seating of the table, I could hear the whispering of gossip. I took my throne and could see all the meals prepared for all of us. The rest of the council each took their respective thrones as well, and we began the proceedings by first eating and somewhat awkwardly conducting conversations. The feast laid out before us was rather sparse containing only the very basic of necessary nourishment. You could very well have mistaken us as rather modest peasants instead of the noble rulers we would someday be known.
Once the feast was concluded we then had taken to delegating various tasks to each of the governing leaders and I was allocated with the charge of settling disputes that did not pertain to any of the other branches of the council. I spent most of the coming days solving fights over property and trying to keep infighting to as minimal as possible.
It was a near three months before I was compelled away from the rigors of ruling our newly forged empire, Charn, had performed several yet more successful raids, without me present during most of them this time. He had also returned with another two drop shuttles and a small transport. All of which were crewed by veteran skilled and liberated slave soldiers. For the first time things were going so well, I felt like I could finally allow him to continue the fight without my personal delegation. Those days of his absence, I came to know many of the fellow liberated slaves I had brought to freedom. I got acquainted with each of the twelve royals that we had voted on to lead at my side. 
In the earlier days prior to our landing here, we had only set up a basic system in place, to dictate how our new empire was to be governed. We had all decided that at any given time only one royal could be set as The Leadership Caste but however, this caste would only be in power for as long as they were needed during the revolution, and would later be succeeded by the next in line. This successor would be elected later by a majority voting system, which would be set in place, when it became necessary for the former leader to step down.
This basic form of government body plan was all but complete, but it did not have the necessary details to describe how the newly formed government would operate outside the ruling caste so, I had to work with the rest of my fellow libertarians to agree on how best to run the other castes. We all agreed that the castes would be divided into roles which would allow for each to act independently, but not have power to dictate to other castes without the ruling caste’s consent. This meant that the government’s sub bodies, the cases, could only be effective if they were all united. It also meant that there would have to be upwards of twelve castes to govern this new empire. This was figured out based on the way we had already formed ourselves into castes. So far we had only chosen four leaders and they were chosen based on their skill in the roles they were performing.
We had to set up the twelve roles as our government by deciding what each caste would be required to do within the government, the twelve roles were as follows, the leadership or Ruling Caste, the Legislature Caste, the Media Caste, the Warrior Caste, the Hunter Caste, the Builder Caste, the Architect Caste, the Scholar Caste, the Commerce Caste, the Mining Caste, the Farming Caste, and finally the Healer Caste.
These castes were elected one by one, when new candidates were found to have the needed skills. As the months came to conclude we found we had all the needed leadership to truly begin this revolution. In this time I came to really get to know each of the new royals in more detail.
I myself was unanimously elected as the first Empress of the Leadership Caste. Charn of coarse was the king of the Warrior Caste, and Ben would build his place as the King of the Architect Caste.
Silvian was the fourth member of the monarchy; her role was the Queen of the Legislature Caste. I found her to be as an invaluable council as she had a knack for seeing all sides of whatever conflicts arose and settling them as fairly as possible. She would not only become the recorder of our laws but also a rather popular singing idol among our people. She had a gift for speech, and this gift would give her the ability to sway others by using her fair minded reasoning. She would serve as negotiator on the counsel, to help it remain in constant balance. I myself would regard her as my closest friend within the council of kings. I found her gifts for negotiation invaluable, because the way she could also motivate others with her talented singing voice, would make for a brilliant medium to recruit and comfort the people we would come to liberate in the coming Revolution.
The next Monarch, was King of The Builder Caste, he would be later named Bernard and was a  very strong bull like humanoid, he came to us in Charn's latest victory. He had horns on his head much like an ox, and similar facial features as well; however he had the body of a human and hooves on his feet. He was the one who had taken upon himself to build new habitats, for all incoming and in some cases already present refugees, which we brought to our new paradise. If Ben would be known as the architect, well then Bernard would soon be known as the builder who crafted what ever Ben designed. Bernard also possessed Ben's ability to explain complex concepts, however unlike Ben, he did not have trouble with some of the simpler concepts. This at times caused them to have squabbles, but even in spite of this they would still become rather close friends.
The next Monarch, Queen of The Healer Caste, was one royal who also came to us in a recent raid, she was given the name Angelica. She had a demeanor and a soothing presence of an angel, so she was given this name because it best suited her personality. She was a fine specimen of a bear like humanoid, possessing emerald green eyes, her fur coat was a brown and black fur pattern; she also had claws and a short bobtail. She was found to be a skilled medical practitioner; her role would lead the much needed healers she would find among the scarce ranks of our developing society. I would come to regard her as a guiding inspiration to many among our libertarians.
The next Monarch, the leader of The Scholar Caste, was an older male, made of the same species model as I had been bread. His fur however was dark brown, and an injury to his left wing had rendered him flightless during a battle, which he had barely survived long ago. His name was Alvin and he became known as The Scholar King of Freedom. He showed a great deal of interest in history, and often collected as many old records as he could get. He mostly delighted in studying the many philosophies and cultures of the societies of Earth, both current and long dead for the many centuries. He even began to explore the planet we had settled mapping the area around the settlement, and setting up an archeological dig site near the derelict vessel that we had discovered after we had first landed here.
The eighth Monarch, King of The Commerce Caste, was a rodent like creature, named Terran he was not like any of us however. He wasn’t a bio form created by the Empire, but rather an alien species that had been conquered by it. His personality would create allot of tension among the royals, and I would find a rather tedious task of settling his disputes more than any of the other council members. He has taken upon himself to manage the resources for our new colony. This caused conflicts because our supplies could be limited by how much we could obtain in either raids or by making our own from our newly colonized habitat.
The ninth Monarch had arrived in the same raid as we had squired the Ark of Freedom and became the Queen of the Mining Caste. She was a mole like humanoid named Molly. She would be instrumental in sustaining our future economy. Her eyesight was rather poor but in spite of this, she could find hidden minerals and precious ores in the ground by the vibrations she felt in the rock. She also found several fresh water underground springs which we would find invaluable. Her abilities to feel the ground’s vibrations would also become useful in our future mining operations.
The King of the Farming Caste, was a rather late comer to our colony, but when he arrived it relieved allot of tension over resources, I chose his name myself, as I just could not resist to reflect his unusual ears in it, Floxy was a made up word I described him with, because his ears were floppy and his personality for lack of a better word had more moxie than any other royal I knew. He was an eccentric male with large floppy ears, a pair of small buck teeth and a pure white fur coat, and a short bushy tail, giving him much of the appearance of a rabbit. He had keen interest in plants; he took to studying the many varieties in our new paradise. He would become nicknamed The King of Gardens. He arrived just after the winter season had ended, and immediately set out into the wilderness to find any source of edible plant life he could. He found several coconut-like pods, which provided both food and water at the same time. These fruit bearing trees were plentiful among the wild jungles below our cliffs. He would set up several gathering and farming settlements in the deep jungle and other places of our new found world, to provide a great deal to our stockpiles adding more variety to our menu.
The King of the Hunter Caste was someone whom Charn had found as very vital to our new society; his name would be given by Charn, a name which suited him, Scarab as he would then be called. He was another felinoid much like Ben, but he however, more resembled a cougar than leopard. He became The Huntsman King of our troupe of rulers. He would often run several of Charn's soldiers and train them to use their sharpshooting skills, and hunt the many wild game among the forests and would be very successful in gathering the meat of our colonies diet. He would become rather close friends to Charn, and his warriors. Together they would form a rather tight bond between the warriors and the farming groups by also taming several of the livestock and using their skills in both to unite the two castes. I admit I was very encouraging of this relationship as it positively reinforced our agreement to work together to survive in our new frontier of freedom.
The twelfth, and final, Monarch the Queen of the Media Caste, was the most eccentric of the leaders, but her name would be the most important of all our members and she even got to choose it herself, Goselin would be known as The Queen of Information. She was a strange humanoid with a more human face but had the wings and a feather plumed tail of an owl on her back, but otherwise she was entirely human in terms of limbs and other physical attributes. She would become the one who held all of us as closest to one another. Her ability to gather through and send information would prove the most valuable skill the entire counsel would have at their disposal, and eventually I would place her at the head of the Information Media Network; a network that she would build as our main source of intelligence and information within our new empire. Her personality of being an insatiable gossip would also create a bit of tension among our new society. However in spite of this, she would unite all of the other royals in ways no other leader could. Her abilities to decrypt and also encrypt information and also collect and then distribute it would serve to unite our entire empire in ways we could never have achieved separately.
	I spent a lot of time with both Illi and Lori but mostly I came to be closest to Jack. Even though the others didn’t consider them as part of our society, I still felt they should be counted as one of us. We did liberate them from the Empire just the same as the others. The three of them would in a way become part of what I regarded as my advisory counselors. I would build a relationship with each of them in unique ways but they seemed to keep their distance from the other royals, I think partly because they felt that they were outsiders caught up in the struggle that I had created when I had escaped the tyranny of my former masters. I tried my best to keep the prejudice feelings of the other royals from making them uncomfortable, but at times I did feel like they were more prejudiced towards me than they were with my kinsman; although, I also tried my best to keep that to myself as well.
	Charn had left on yet another raid; it was a whole month and three days before his return this time. He had also brought back some news; he had raided the old station we had left behind so very long ago. While he was aboard the station which was in the process of being rebuilt and set for the invasion staging point, he was able to steal some intelligence files. These files outlined that the invasion had already begun. 
When we watched the video feed of the entire first attack, I felt absolute rage while seeing the end of it.
The first part of the video was a recording of the leading republic session that governed the entire confederacy. This secession was called to bring to light the planned invasion and I was satisfied to find out that Senator Derrick and Kyle had safely arrived there and they were presenting the accusations against the Empire.
Derrick opened his statement, “My fellow delegates I bring desperate news! The Empire has betrayed us; they have conspired to invade our space! They may even be out there right now ready to attack any moment.”
Many of the world representatives tried to argue in the Empire's behalf stating that if they were conspiring to attack them then why had they never done so before. These arguments of course fell victim to one counter which had me rather panicked. The Imperial representative was completely absent during this meeting. Just as the debate really started to get into a heated frenzy, the room suddenly began violently shaking. Screaming rang out, coming from the outer chambers. The video even showed the signs of the horrific truth that the attack was happening right then, before the transmission stopped and the camera went blank.
The remainder of the video was a silent view of the attack from outside their leading warship. I was disgusted by the brutality they had shown by attacking the massive capital station of the confederation. The station had been attacked with a massively surprising fleet and enough weapons to easily overtake any surviving defense. It was horrifying the amount of firepower leveled against the station.
It was a rather grotesque sight as they had not even shown any care in choosing only military targets, and even civilian casualties had been suffered in great numbers. It was more of a massacre than a real war zone situation, and that caused a lot of angry feelings when I then had to show this footage to the rest of the royals.
I had to give this footage to Goselin immediately after the meeting, to show to the entire colony and show them what we would soon be fighting so very hard to stop. I had a lot of trouble keeping them from organizing into a frenzy and deciding to go off and try to attack the Empire in retaliation. Jack was the strongest voice in this new movement, but I was able to convince him that we should focus in leading a defense against the Empire then move towards pushing them back.
I decided our next move would have to be to start our first real campaign of the war by using the raided Intel to coordinate our next strike. Luckily this intelligence also outlined a new weapon and its location. This new intelligence outlined a brand new class of starship. One being built and developed not very far from our new home world. It was to be completed in their newest imperial shipyard located in a system two systems from our location. This put us in an ideal position to attack the shipyards themselves, and most likely they would not even expect it, seeing as they would no doubt be occupied with their invasion plans.
It was a very fascinating new weapon, it was already nearly completed. This new ship showed to have a system that was rather interesting, for a small ship of its size it appeared to be rather effective against larger targets. It was also large enough to still be classified as a capital class hull. However its most valuable feature was its capability to completely refit itself for nearly any mission situation without the need for a facility or shipyards. This particularly interested me because if we were successful, and somehow we were able to capture this ship, it would be the first real warship in our refugee fleet. 
I decided to hold a council of war, even if this would be our first serious campaign, my role as leader, didn’t mean I had the final say. Even though Charn had made his view clear on this matter, and I also agreed, I felt that if I simply made this choice by forcing it on the others I wouldn't be trusted with leading them to freedom. The following night of his return, we had to convince the entire council. It had finally come time for our first serious council of war. I contacted Goselin and had her tell the others to convene the full council immediately.
This counsel meeting was strongly driven by the Warrior Caste but in terms of politics the other castes had just as much interest in the next raid as well. If successful we would gain a real warship to provide further means to attack the Empire and defend against reprisal counter attacks. However if we failed to capture the ship at the very least we could destroy it, and also gain the chance for liberating some more slaves to help fight with us. Although it would have seemed a simple gamble to make it was difficult to convince all of the royals it was worth the resources to peruse.
I had an easier time persuading the others however because the only one in protest of the idea was too busy with other endeavors to even oppose the idea. The one Royal member, Terran, the one who put himself in charge of cataloging supplies was a bit hesitant to cast his vote but Silvian was able to convince him to give a consenting agreement and allow us to proceed.
Once the vote was finalized I decreed that the raid would take place immediately when Charn and his warriors were prepared. In knowing that this raid would also require a bit of technical ability as well, I convinced Ben to come along as a measure of helping us gain control of the ship we had intended to capture. Which was a bit of a task, due to him and the new builder, were into one of their arguments again, but I was able to pry Ben away and give poor Bernard a break from his constant rebuttals. 
We had the full support of the other royals and thus most of them were also coming along. Charn, Scarab and Alvin, were naturally expected as together they formed the main generals of our army. Oddly enough however, Goselin also chose to come along, and Molly decided to bring Angelica along with her as well. Jack, Illi and Jeff were all three coming along as well. The rest were all staying behind to manage the fortress and the colony while we were away.
Charn had assembled his warriors and came to have more than enough firepower to do what was required once we had landed, however the difficulty would prove to be to land in the first place. The shipyards would prove the greatest challenge we would have ever faced in this war thus far. The yards would undoubtedly be well defended, but even still what information we had captured would easily be able to help in letting us form some kind of stratagem with which to counter these defenses.
When I went aboard the Ark of Liberty this time, we had already turned it into a military transport of sorts and it now would serve as the main flagship of our new fleet. It was now more suitable for carrying troops, and we had been able to lightly arm it, so it could make a rather more effective landing assault transport. This ship had become more like a part of a pirate fleet and its rather rugged appearance made it really look its part. We had been able to forge some Imperial codes which would allow us to sneak the drop ships in as supply vessels, these codes were intended to be used for the starport security detail anyways. They were taken from the cargo which ironically we had also raided from that old station we had escaped from. For some reason I couldn’t help noticing how much that old place seemed to be so useful for such things.
In spite of this prudent stroke of luck however, the Ark would have a bit more trouble with looking the part. I came up with the idea of using those codes to slip in our fleet through the defense network, as one of the regular supply convoys which were constantly running through the shipyards.
Charn had also laid out the whole strategy, which was being displayed on the holographic display in the ship’s old recreation lounge. His plan relied on the hope that we could disguise the Ark as a mercenary ship hired to bring in parts for the new weapon. This would have a chance of working because the Empire would often hire such ships for transporting cargoes they did not want confederate patrols to stop and inspect. Even though they were now at war with the confederacy, such mercenaries would still be used, as long as they were able to prove loyal enough to the Imperium. 
The plan was simple; all we had to do was enter the system just outside the shipyards perimeter. Then we could fly into the transport traffic which was all monitored by electronic flight computers. We could just transmit the codes to these computers and enter through the Empire’s own transport fleet.
But the problem was that the Ark of Liberty would have to first be checked in through their patrol network, and that would prove problematic if they decided to board it and check its cargo. Charn had this figured out however, we had captured several more of those security robots and so he would just fill the Ark’s cargo with them, along with as much spare parts and ore as we could scavenge. In all we had found enough of them to fill half of the cargo, so as long as they didn’t make a thorough search we might actually pull this off. The remainder of the cargo space was filled with myself and Charn's warriors so if they simply didn’t check the containers in the far back we could slip by unnoticed.
Jack had volunteered to lead the Ark of Liberty, as the supposed mercenary captain along side Illi, Lori, and Jeff, all posing as the crew. We also had a few of my brethren wearing chains and control shock collars posing as slaves which were purchased to serve as the remaining crewmen. So that should have made the farce even more believable as only really trusted outsiders were ever allowed the ability to buy slaves.
It took several hours to prepare for the operation, it was just a matter of shifting things around and preparing the ships and making sure we were prepared for the worst possible scenario. It took the remainder of that day to be ready but we took off immediately. Upon taking off I could barely contain my thoughts.
I knew this tension I was feeling all too well, but this time it felt different, I was used to feeling the excitement before a major battle. I couldn’t help this time being far different from that usual feeling. It was more than the usual tense anxiety of being in a battle of uncertain odds. I was more than used to that, but this time it felt like more than just simple anxiety, there was almost like a sense of pride. I was about to go off for a war I actually started, and maybe it was the fact that this time I was choosing where, when, and why, it took place.
I was marching off to war … I was marching for freedom ... most of all I was marching to save my people.

Chapter 8
Liberating Aura
When all was prepared we were already underway on the first real battle of this war. If we did not succeed in winning this fight it would mean grave consequences for the rest of the war. I knew this whole raid on the starport was a bold gamble, but it was well worth it if we could capture the ship being built there.
I had been hiding that relic I had found in that old crash site back on the first day we landed on Eden prime, and for some reason I was carrying it in my pack during this fight. I can’t really explain why I was compelled to have it with me but it had kind of become my good luck charm. The others had never seen it, I kept it a total secret, and yet I still couldn’t understand why.
I couldn’t dwell on this feeling however because we were about to prepare for the fight. We had decided to hide in the cargo containers, and that meant we needed to make them ready for things in case our farce failed and we needed to spring the trap early. In addition to fooling the starport we had to also pass through an Imperial controlled station in one system then a checkpoint in another system and we would have to refuel at both places.
The first stop would be the hardest thing to pass through, but if we played it calm and made our timing right we just might pull it off. When we exited jump this time most of us hid in the crates and the rest of us had to pretend to be enslaved crew. This time I was one of the hidden as it was worried I might have been recognized. Word was beginning to spread about my revolt and thus so was my reputation.
It was a very tense moment waiting for the end, but I admit the time had served to let me reflect on what we were doing. I admit it had made me realize just how far we had come. Here we are, waiting for our turn to fight back, we were free. And if we want to remain free, we will have to bleed for it.
The ship was deathly silent till we could hear the sound of the cargo hold loading ramp opening up. I was very tense as we could hear the moving and shuffling of crates being unloaded and loaded. Apparently the plan had not gone as we had expected, I only could silently wait and hope to be told what was going on when whatever they were doing was over with.
There were several moments of waiting when the crate we were hiding in was being moved, several of us cried out! The crate stopped moving and I could tell our disguise had been discovered until I heard Jack shouting!
“Hey! Leave the ones in the back, they are slaves being delivered to the spaceport, and I don’t give a fuck what orders you had, I’m not losing the profit they will fetch, so you just have to load the rest of the cargo onto my escorts!” he protested.
We could feel the movement once again this time putting us back to where we had been and I sighed with relief. Apparently, he had somehow managed to acquire a way to actually get us to the starport without having to fight our way in after all. It was several more hours’ loud sounds of equipment and heavy loading going on, and all we could do was sit in the darkness and wait for it all to end.
It wasn’t until we could feel the vibrations of the ship taking off I figured we had been saved the trouble of being in a fight that could have meant total failure for our current mission. A short moment after the ship had taken off Jack opened the crate we were hiding in.
He clumsily explained, “Sorry about that confusion earlier, but we have had a bit of change in favor for a new plan,  I had to pretend to be a smuggler for hire.” he then clarified, “The border patrol somehow managed to identify our codes as stolen, and well, that’s where I had to do some cunning negotiation, I managed to sweet talk them into letting us go and sell our looted cargo off to them.” he paused a moment then continued, “in return, they gave us a new cargo, which was bound for where we wanted to go anyways.”
I then commended him for this clever thinking, “Well, not entirely an easy start but seems like our plan is coming along regardless. This will be great for us if our luck continues!”
Jack closed the crate and left us in the dark again till we once again had landed. It was just the very same routine as the previous jump to the next system. We waited silently in the cargo crate till the short stop for fuel in this new system, then once again we jumped off to the next system, finally we had arrived in the Imperial Shipyards.
When I had been planning the attack on this system I had immediately noticed the name of this system, we had now been set to attack the Draconis System. The Draconis system had a deep meaning to our people.
This shipyard was a relatively new station, however the Empire’s presence in this system was well known among our people. The shipyard had been only built over the last few years, but there was also a large research station in orbit of the main world of this ancient system. This system was very iconic to all Bioforms because of the world which the research station was orbiting. That world is where all of us were borne from. 
The Empire had discovered some data involving genetic experiments within some alien ruins on the main world of the Draconis system. This data also involved the genetic materials and thus they had to transport this material to their research laboratories elsewhere. Which meant they had to ship them through Confederate checkpoints, and thus in order to avoid avid suspicions these materials were listed as “Hazardous Bioform” to pass unnoticed through customs. You see, our term used to describe our race, the word “Bioform” comes from the DNA material the Imperial scientists in these laboratories had used to create us.
I supposed that there was some slight sense of irony in that the first real battle of the revolt would occur in the very birthplace of our race. It was several more hours which seemed more like days of waiting in the dark. I could hear things getting really tense outside when suddenly the door to the container opened and Jack came in saying, “It’s almost time to spring the trap! We are in automatic docking right now and as soon as the cargo hatch opens we should be ready to charge in and start this fight.” All of us then primed our weapons and readied for the march down the ramp.
It was very tense waiting for the whole thing to begin but it was already evident that the battle had begun as the shaking of the ship could definitely tell us that the other ships were firing their first diversionary volley and we were setting down inside a open hanger bay just mere meters distance from our objective.
The cargo ramp slammed open and the sight outside it was evident as to how chaotic the battle really was; the weapons fire coming from us was paled in comparison to the massive firefight outside. The fighting was all a massive chaotic scene of a few human soldiers desperately trying to stop our advance; we were in a darkly lit large open space with cargo containers and other clutter, mostly back lit from the explosions and hellfire from the outside.
It was a little while of intense fighting as we all pored out of the ship with a rather impressive volley of gunfire, spraying bullets wildly at anything in an Imperial uniform. I showered my enemies with the wrath of my automatic rifle. It was not very surprising that they returned our rage with just as much deadly force as well. 
The heat of battle took over my mind and all I could focus on was the fighting. We were met with a full company of marines, but we were fortunate enough to have the advantage of surprise as well, the cover of the many cargo containers and other equipment within this hanger. It wasn’t long at all till we had eliminated the defense, in fact we had expected to lose way more people to injuries but it turned out we had only one casualty, and they were only lightly wounded, and able to get back aboard the Ark of Liberty once the first fight was over.
We were able to clear the landing area. The first battle was won and it was so fast it was like a blur to me I could not really feel much until the rage of the fight faded from my nerves. The Ark of Liberty lifted off and evacuated the area because we knew there was no point in letting it stay here and risk losing it to the enemy.
Once the Ark was clear I gathered my forces and moved onwards to the hallway at the back of the hanger which wasn’t even being defended, apparently the chaos of the battle outside had been doing its job. The hallway led to the docking way where the construction yards were; there we would find the ship we had come to liberate from the Empire. It was just a fast march down but the doorway at the end was sadly locked and secured.
I knew this wasn’t the worst thing to worry about however, because I knew the other side was definitely going to be guarded. I decided the best tactical move would be to find another way that would prove more effective. We could see there was another way into the hanger through what appeared to be some kind of fabrication facility.
We then went down yet another hallway meeting some more marines who my compatriots were fast to dispatch and further advance to the facilities entrance which was now completely open to us, so we quickly entered into the building full of equipment and miscellaneous parts for ships. The first room was of little interest; the next one was closed off and locked but this one we could easily blow open with explosives. I ordered one of our recently acquired Specialists to begin laying the explosives while I took my snorkel camera to look in through the ventilation duct into the next room before I gave the signal to breach the door.
Luckily for me, the camera was able to reach the vent on the other side of the wall. From this I could now see into the next room and the door was currently unguarded, but there seemed to also be several people being herded into the room at gunpoint.
I was rather afraid of the possibility of hostage scientists being present here. The Empire was well known to kidnap such scientists, and force them to “work for the good of the Empire and its citizens.” I also knew the procedures were to execute such hostages in the event they finished their usefulness. This gathering of them, in such a manner was exactly what was about to take place. I growled with anger at the site of them preparing to open fire. My excitement must have given my friends the courage they needed to breech the door without the order.
This turn of events was a bit unexpected but I knew we had to do something to save the innocents of this new war. The Empire would not be allowed to commit any more atrocities without some consequences. And I knew my fellow freedom fighters felt the exact same way.
The Imperial soldiers inside were completely surprised as me and my fellow patriots dispatched them without hitting a single one of the civilian hostages. I noticed several of them were wearing Confederate brands on their white lab coats.
We then calmed them down and began leading them out into the hanger docking way where the ship we were intending to use for our escape was just now waiting for us. It was nearly unprotected, seemingly easy for us to advance on to the gantry which was the only access to the ship. But I felt that this would no doubt prove not as simple for us to escape with the ship itself.
We found the ship was completely empty; however it was also locked down by several clamps attached to the hull, so we needed to unlock these clamps before we could take off. Ben was busy trying to hack the shipyard’s computer when another group of defenders started to pour down the hallways to stop us. We had to buy him the needed time to work so I ordered the others to set up some defensive positions to hold ‘til we could extend the boarding gantry and leave.
The first wave was just a few light troops which weren’t much of a problem to hold off, but that’s when things got a tad more intense, where several robotic sentries came lumbering into the fight. They were tearing through the first of our defensive lines just as Ben had managed to unlock the ship and extend the gantry. I ordered a full retreat onto the ship while I threw a large sticky bomb at one of the combat robots.
As soon as I turned to run back however it went off prematurely and I was hit by a flying piece of debris and lost consciousness but somehow I was still alive. I could feel the impact as I fell to the ground, but I wasn’t there for long. I could feel like I was being picked up and dragged off somewhere.
I then faded off into a dazed blackout, which is all I can remember before I woke later seemingly rescued. And I was lying on a medical bed somewhere aboard a ship. I could tell I was on a ship because of the unique vibrations of the room, it almost felt like the engines were obviously in the middle of a hyperspace jump.
I wasn’t as wounded as I had expected only a broken rib and few minor abrasions. I mostly expected at the very least I would have suffered a broken limb or more serious internal wounds. I don’t really remember how I came to be treated but all of these wounds were mended. The room was rather sparse, filled with other medical beds; this made me come to believe that, obviously I must have been in the infirmary. 
In the bed next to me I could hear the muffled moaning and coughing of Jack’s painful stirrings. As I looked over I couldn’t help commenting on his rather broken appearance, “Jack what happened to you, you look like shit!”
He tried to laugh but was stopped by more wheezing and it muffled his voice with a rather raspy tone. His response made me feel rather more attracted to him, “Well, I took a few hits of your wonderful explosives, while I tried to save your life!”
I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him as I had been less injured I was able to still move, I quickly got up and walked over to take up his hand and comfort him. “You really are the perfect gentleman, my dear Captain Jack!” I softly whispered as I knelt down and gave him a kiss on the forehead.
At about this time, Angelica, whom had been present during the assault as well had come over to check on both of us stating her concerns, “You shouldn’t be overdoing it with that broken rib your ladyship! He will be out of commission for a while longer than yourself, but regardless you both should pull through.”
As I left him to rest from the injuries, I stated softly, “I think I’m starting to feel really loved with all of these knights that keep coming to save my life.”
Angelica simply shyly replied, “You are very well loved in this Empire milady. And I think you should get some rest for yourself but I know you aren’t going to.”
She then further reported, “We have successfully taken this ship and are currently in route for parts unknown, you see milady, shortly after you blacked out, I pulled you both away from battle and we all managed to make it on board. that’s when the ship suddenly just activated and flew entirely on autopilot and suddenly entered jump space without us even realizing what was going on or where we’re headed.” she paused for a deep breath, “and that brings you entirely up to speed, Charn and the others are in parts unknown, and we can only assume they simply evacuated and retreated by now.”
I then grabbed a crutch which was laying against the wall near my medical bed and used it to steady myself and ease my pain while walking with this broken rib, and said, “Well, the very least I suppose it’s worth a good touring of our crafty new starship and see what our spoils of this battle has wrought us shall we!”
We then met one of our new Confederate friends at the doorway. She was a human, who was still wearing the Confederate lab coat, and she was rather anxious to speak with me. “Oh! I’m terribly sorry to be barging in on you madam, but I’m told you are the one in charge, you are their leader am I right?”
Alvin was also in accompaniment behind her and was rather quick to address her rudeness, “You will address her lordship as her highness, if you would please!” he then commented, “I would also like to apologize for the abruptness milady, she insisted on discussing her position directly.”
I decided to dismiss the tension and hear the scientist woman out, “I am Lady Sadaria, and this is our healer Lady Angelica, the rather egotistical male behind you is Lord Alvin. Might I ask your forgiveness in our rudeness as well, and start anew?
She quickly came to her senses, “Well I am Doctor Jenifer Fairfax! And I would like to extend my services to you as well as those of my compatriots. You see, we were supposed to be in the care of the Imperial government, but they seem to have had other ideas.” she paused a moment gauging my reaction a bit then added, “I would like to offer our help in your revolt in return for our safe return to Confederate space.”
I then decided to be more careful in answering her request, “You seem to be unaware of what has happened to your Confederation, are you sure you wish to return to it if it should not still be there to return to?”
She seemed rather puzzled by this statement, I then requested, “Lord Alvin, if you would please lend me your hand computer?” he honored my request and relinquished the computer so I could then load up the captured footage of the capital of her government being attacked.
Upon seeing the footage she was rendered both speechless and brought to tears. She seemed more distraught but I decided to comfort her by letting Angelica take her back into the infirmary where we then fully discussed the matters.
When Jenifer stopped crying I then decreed, “Regardless of how any of our new friends are brought to be with us, we will be glad to welcome you.” She seemed to be a little less complacent but at least at ease when I further counseled, “You are welcome to present any help you think will be most effective against the Empire.”
After the drama had settled, I took up Lord Alvin’s arm and requested, “Since you have already seen more of it than I have, would you mind giving me a tour of our new ship please?” We went along the tour from the bridge located at the very fore or front of the vessel, working our way to the aft. 
Together, we explored the ship’s rather extensive interior. This ship seemed to have a lot of room for such a small capital class vessel. Its decks were all laid out on sections starting at its center where the power plant facility was located, and spiraling, arranged almost like a living organisms internal organs. It was certainly the strangest ship design I had ever seen, completely different from anything I had ever seen the Empire use before.
The ship was just simply the most amazing vessel I’ve ever had the pleasure of exploring. It was rather pleasantly styled in elaborate decorative architecture which was typical of most Imperial battleships.  It was almost beautiful and angelic in quality to all of the white walls and crimson carpeted floors, because Gold adorned every inch of them.
All of this was rather unexpected, but since we did steal it from their prototype shipyard we did expect some unusual designs. Our little tour began in the ship’s command bridge. I was incredibly surprised by how large and uncluttered the bridge was. Typical military bridges were almost always filled with several pieces of equipment, making them rather cramped and cluttered for the crews that man them. Such was certainly not the case with this vessel. All of the consoles were small sleekly designed and built into the ship’s architecture, and controlling only the necessary systems. It seemed like the designers had eliminated the clutter by simply automating several of the key ship systems to other places in the ship.
It was very fine attention to detail paid to every item on board. The bridge was connected to a long hallway and separated from the ship’s main hull. It seemed odd to me that it was constructed in such a way that the fore section of the ship was not very well connected with the rest of the ship. This was until I noticed the several boxes marked as explosives lining the shaft just to the rear of the bridge, in case of extreme emergency, these explosive bolts will cut the hull and allow the ship’s fore section to be used as a temporary life boat.
Just to the aft of the ship’s main bridge was the ship’s crew living quarters, and behind that the galley and further on was the ship’s main reactor. It seemed to me this design almost implied that this vessels blood was the crew that manned it; therefore the needed accommodations were located in the very heart of the vessel.
Our next stop of coarse was the officer’s quarters in which surprisingly the captain’s cabin was also located. Usually the Empire frowned on fraternization between lesser officers, but this vessel had this cabin right in the middle of the crews’ bunks. Although, it was separated from the general quarters this was very unusual.
The general quarters however were rather sparse, in comparison to the captain’s, even still, they were quite comfortable. They beds were triple stacked and there was at least enough room for a full crew of one hundred and fifty without rotation shifts. Such large bunks were common on capital vessels.  All of the crew bunks fittings were typically as expected so we just moved on further aft.
I was amazed to find the galley much larger than that of our humbled ship we had stolen from the base in that asteroid field. It was massive with comparable capacity to the bunks. The kitchen was amazingly similar but much better equipped to our reliable ship we had stolen long before. This really pleased me to find not only a fully functional space convection oven, but a totally complete set of cooking equipment and supplies. I was very impressed that the kitchen could easily feed us well for many years from now. I wanted to spend more time here, but Lord Alvin was rather pressed to move on and show me the ship’s life support facility.
I admit now when I saw why, I almost, felt the need to apologize. When we came into what appeared to be a large ship’s arboretum. It was like entering into a dream garden, where anything was possible. On the other side of the door was a stone pathway leading to a fountain at the center of the facility. It was even complete with a skyline which I had to only guess, was created by some kind of holographic apparatus built into the ceiling. It was a rather large facility, one could get lost among the grass and trees rather easily. It was beautiful; I could hardly contain my disbelief of how natural it all looked. It was as if we had passed into a fantasy. This gorgeous garden somehow recycled the ship’s oxygen using the various plants located here, and Lord Alvin, was rather elated to explain how it even had gardens that provided produce for the crew to consume as well. It was unbelievably vast for such a small facility but the illusion, of the walls and ceiling made you feel like we weren’t even on a ship.
I severely wanted to show Jack how breathtaking this place was, but this only reminded me of how much I felt sorry for him getting hurt. This was the first time I had actually been present during one of his rescue attempts. Thinking about this made me also realize how much I cared for him. I wanted to follow my heart, but I couldn’t help thinking about how this would affect my role as the leader of this libertarian army I had started. If I became the new empress of this stratocracy government, which my people had now built around me, then I would have very little time to pursue this relationship. I was however torn from this mental conversation by the former Confederate Captain himself.
He had somehow acquired a wheelchair and was being pushed to us by Lady Angelica. She shyly explained, “I felt that our friend here could do with some healthy recovery while receiving some fresh air.” She further added with a tough motherly love tone of voice, “and perhaps the two of you could rest here before you wound yourselves worse than you already are!”
I decided to relieve her of her responsibility wheeling him around, and pushed Jack over to the fountain where I sat down on the lip of the waters, gazing over the beautiful trees before us. It was several hours before we further continued the tour with the others. 
After rather a brief moment of awkward silence, I rather brazenly commented on the sights, “This place is like a romantic dream forest, isn’t it?” Jack of course rather nervously tried to avoid eye contact with me, but I could tell he was just as taken by the atmosphere as I was, I could hear his pulse rising. I had forgotten that I had changed when we were in the captain’s cabin, and was wearing my rather fancy ball gown. He seemed to be admiring it, when he thought I wasn’t looking.
I was apparently making Jack a tad uncomfortable while holding his hand I could feel his pulse quickening again. He would try to hide his nervous glances at me thinking I hadn’t noticed.
We talked on about how unbelievable the places we kept being brought to were getting. We began to reminisce about our first meeting, and how brave he had been coming to my rescue since that long ago fateful day, I admit this flirtatious conversation made me feel very warm inside. I almost completely forgot my concerns when I found myself sharing our first real kiss. It was totally unexpected but I was enjoying it so much I almost didn’t care. He had leaned over the side of the wheelchair and just started passionately kissing me on the lips. He suddenly lost his balance and fell out of the chair. Landing us both into the fountain, we both just laughed, not having a care in the world. After Lord Alvin and Angelica both retrieved us from the fountain, we decided to end the day’s excitement by retiring to our beds.
I had to bathe carefully as my wounds were still not fully healed as of yet. But once I was done Jack came rolling into the bathroom apparently not knowing I was in here, and noticing I was still naked.
He of course was rather shy about his intrusion. “I’m so sorry my dear, I hadn’t realized you were in here, I’ll go back out and wait, I didn’t mean to intrude!”
I stopped him while holding a towel up to my chest so as not to overwhelm his modesty, “Wait captain, I mean uh, Jack, could you please come here, and help me redress my wounds.”
He seemed quite funny, all blushed as he wheeled over to help, but I couldn’t help giggling a little about his red face. He seemed to be very good at applying bandages; I had assumed he would be based on his likely military training he would have covered basic first aid.
Once he finished I got my crunches and got into my fresh underwear and nightgown. He of course began to ready himself for bed the same as I, but we both started out sleeping in separate beds in adjoining rooms.
I admit that night’s sleep was rather filled with pleasant dreams. I had taken to sleeping together with Captain Jack, much to his surprise when we awoke the next morning. I had apparently slipped into bed with him, while in my sleep, so I wasn’t even aware I had done so either.
We both simply continued on to what would become our usual retinue of pretending nothing was going on. But I knew as much as he did, this would just be a facade, and one day we would have to deal with our feelings for one another. He managed to slide himself back into his wheelchair and rolled himself into the bathroom without any help from me. Jack seemed a bit stubborn about accepting help, he insisted on doing as much as he could on his own. I was very surprised by how capable he was at using the chair unassisted.
He took a really long time in there but I could hear the shower stall spraying so I could only have guessed he needed no help bathing either. I admit the thought of having to help, him and his being naked, did excite me a little bit.
I could do little but wait for him to finish and ponder what all this tension between us would have to mean for both of our future. I knew that he was just as much in thought about us as I was. When his superiors found out about his involvement, all I could think about was weather they would come between us. 
I could almost feel what he was thinking, “I’ll bet you were thinking about returning to the Confederation just now.” I stated then looked him right in the eyes just as he rolled his wheelchair from the bathroom. He finally returned my glances as I added, “I know your not really sure what will happen, when this war ends, and finally returns you to the worlds you swore to serve, but I also know they were in your heart long before I was.”
He seemed to be rather more tense than I was but I knew what he was feeling. “Yes, just now, I did think about it. While I was getting dressed, I considered what I was going to do when I got back. But more so, I was considering, weather I wanted to go back at all.” he paused as he wheeled himself down beside me and placed his hand over my cheek, “I want you to know, whatever happens, and I mean it, you come first!” with that slow breath, he then left the room and me just sitting speechless on the end of the bed.
I couldn’t believe what he had just said to me, but I knew I was going to have to consider just what it would mean in my future decisions. I know I was about to serve my people as a leader, and yet at the same time I wanted more. I decided to put thinking about it aside, till I had more time to sort it all out.
I then got up and proceeded to ready myself for my loyal subjects. After my lengthy second shower, I had to tend to and redress my wounds myself, but the pain wasn’t as bad as it was before, and I was starting to get used to such things. I later got dressed back into the same dress my subjects had given me back home on Eden Prime.
Once I was finished I was met at the door by Lord Alvin, whom informed me, “Milady, we have made contact with one of our fleeing vessels from the shipyard attack, and they have reported the loss of our flagship, the Ark of Liberty.”
I admit this news did somewhat worry me; however, I knew there would be some sacrifices in this conflict. I of course inquired, “What of word from Lord Charn, has he survived the battle?”
Alvin replied, “Yes Milady, he is well, the Ark however, although it was rendered incapable of inter-system travel, was still able to make it back to Eden Prime, Where it dispatched the following invaders. Lord Charn actually managed to capture an Imperial Light Cruiser from that battle as well.”
I then reaffirmed, “This is great news indeed, even in sacrifice we have achieved victory.” I then ordered, “Send word to Lord Charn, we will be arriving as soon as possible, and he is to continue any campaign he deems capable, but he himself, is to remain there to defend the home colony at all costs!”
Both Lord Alvin and I continued to the ship’s bridge, where I gave the order over the intercom, to begin finding a way to get our new flagship home. “All hands aboard, please be aware that regardless of how you came to be here with us, we will be proceeding to the promised land first, we will then decide what actions are to be taken with those of you from the Confederacy.” I then gave a moment to let this speech settle, “This being settled. All aboard will be requested to provide any skills they can offer. We are not yet familiar with this new ship’s systems, and will need all the help we can get to return us safely home. We will commence operations shortly please stand by for the time being!”
It was several days of preparation time for the ship itself had to be slowly activated little by little; we were able to find the ship had at least four decks. And most of it was not yet livable, as the life support was straining to keep the main decks breathable. The reason for this was because the remainder of the decks were as of yet not even fully constructed. While the hull was sealed and space worthy, it was mostly void and empty. According to the information on the computer records, we determined that the systems in those sections of the hull were designed as modules. Which apparently were not yet installed.
On the last day of our exploration and prep work, this ship seemed to come to life, it was rather strange, because it was as if the ship itself knew what was needed and acted accordingly. Systems came online and without input began taking refueling actions. We had to get a skilled navigator to try and catch up with the ship’s eager push to get the needed fuel from the nearby gas giant.
Once the fueling process was done the ship automatically piloted to a safe hyperspace jump location and like a shot from a gun we were on towards home. We were surprised to find the estimated travel time was only a mere two days intergalactic time. This ship was most likely the fastest starship in the galaxy.
I was amazed by its remarkable abilities the more I learned about it. I had seemed we had acquired quite the prize indeed. This ship just had more surprises in store the more we explored its vast interior. It was a marvel of engineering and science both of which were the types of laboratories found in its rear compartments. It even had its own weapons manufacture plants to make its own munitions. Charn would no doubt find that very interesting, knowing him, I would be hard pressed to remove him from the strategic command center also attached to the plant.
This ship did have a lot of massive armaments, including a Magnetic Acceleration Cannon, or M.A.C. Planetary Gun which could call down a rather effective planetary air bombardment, as well as an effective volley against enemy ships. Its only disadvantage was that it took thirty minutes for it to recharge between volleys. The one thing that made up for this was the other sub weapons arrays, which could at least take up whatever fire support needed to fill that time. All in all this ship seemed quite capable to fill out the roles needed in battleships of its type. But not all of this ship’s systems seemed meant for violent warfare, it also had several facilities for making field equipment that could support construction of buildings, it seemed to me this ship was also intended to help support ground based operations. My assumptions were that they would still be used as warfare supply establishment, but I had thought that it would serve to help us to build ourselves a real colony back home. Maybe even extend our reach to additional worlds.
I knew if this conflict were to ever end, we would need to be ready for the days after it, when we had no enemy to fight. If the war was finally won, would my people take to fighting one another? Would they know what to do with the freedom the victory over they tyrants would grant us? Both these questions really concerned me.
I pondered them while watching Charn’s hunter friend Sir Scarab, whom had come to be here on the ship with us.  I had Knighted him once I had officially been crowned Empress. He had taken to the weapons workshop, and been toying away with his newly claimed sniper rifle. He also seemed to be a rather philosophical type, as he had also begun a habit of performing a religious spiritual service, for those aboard the ship and was becoming quite the preacher. I chose to nickname him as Sir Bishop. He would become a strong advisor to me in the times to come.
He had chosen to become a Christian practitioner even in spite of the remarkable taboo this was among the service, or slave hood in which we were once bound. The Emperor of the human race had deemed such worship as illegal, and that he was the only god worth believing in. Even still, Sir Bishop was rather strongly opinionated, that the only true god was the Christian one, and we should all convert in order to be spiritually free of his rule.
The rest of the first day of our travel home, we spent it with the usual feast and celebration. Our new traditions seemed to be strange to our new Confederate friends. But after some coaxing from others they warmed up to our ways joining in with the fun. It was much dancing and instruments playing, but sadly Lady Silvian was not present to give us a singing performance, she had stayed aboard the ark when the battle began. Even still the music was favorably provided by several of those with us. It was almost like the first night we had escaped from the convoy all those many months ago. It was getting hard to believe how much was changing in so little time.
I was sitting in a secluded corner of the galley admiring the atmosphere, while eating a loaf of bread and drinking some champagne. Jack had come over and held out his hand towards me, “Milady, I would be honored if you would join me for this next dance.”
I was so pleased by his gentlemanly invitation I could hardly refuse him. When I took his hand the music slowed to a romantic tempo. We then went out onto the improvised dance floor. We began to improvise dancing in a waltz like fashion, Jack was still in a wheelchair, so it was rather difficult. I admit I had no idea how to dance this way, but Jack was quite the leading partner. He showed me how to do it from his chair by rocking it back and forth till I could dance in a circle around him. It was actually quite awkward, but I had the idea that it might have been simpler if he were not chair bound.
It was better than our first kiss, because I was feeling almost exactly as wonderful as before, when we fell into the fountain. The onlookers were obviously just as amazed by our ability to still dance; me with one crutch and Jack from a wheelchair. But when the song ended they all applauded our performances.
When this excitement settled the two of us returned to the table, where we and the other royals present, shared a meal together. It was the first time I had been treated with such respect in my entire life, so I didn’t ever want it to end.
Jack could scarcely keep his eyes off of me for the rest of the night. I admit his stares flattered me a great deal. We had arranged the tables so that our honored gusts from the Confederacy would be seated across from all of us; this way conversations would be easier to carry on while we dined.
There was some short and candid chatter among the others, but most of the guests were silent unless engaged. I was seated across from the one that had met me in the medical ward. Dr. Jenifer Fairfax seemed to be very distant. I decided to lighten her mood by telling her to relax, “Dr. you seem really worried, I assure you whatever fate the Confederation has been dealt, we will make any rescue we can.” she seemed to be choking down on her anger more than anything, but still answered subdued, “I appreciate your hospitality, your highness, but I’m sure you’ll understand my reluctance to enjoy myself, until I know that my friends back home are still alive and safe.”
I acknowledged her mood but decided not to press any disconcerts I had for her lack of iteration, so as not to upset her unnecessarily. The rest of the meal was short and quiet but I couldn’t help but notice Jack’s attempts at making romantic gestures in order to put me in a subdued mood raising a toast to me and our cause. We eventually retreated to our separate beds yet again.
The next day was not as relaxing as the first however, I woke still in bed alone. Jack had taken to recouping in the ship’s arboretum, as would be the ritual exercise period that Lady Angelica would put him through. She was very eager to make him stretch his legs. She was concerned that if he didn’t use them he wouldn’t be able to walk again.
Once I was out of bed however I found myself needing my bandages changed and I had not worn a gown as I was concerned I would get them bloodied, which it seemed, unfortunately I had gotten my underwear.
I then unthinkingly decided to venture out into my friend’s sleeping quarters where I was met by several of the loyal subjects I’m now leading to freedom. They were all elated that I was taking time to mingle with them.
I was then led by my own reluctance into the coed barracks showers, where I was undressed, bathed, and groomed, with the rest of the coed members of the freedom brigade. This behavior seemed to tense up the behaviors of those there, as they insisted on assisting me in a respectful manor to my royal position; refusing to let me even use the bar soap for myself, they groomed my fur and nails for me, it was actually rather embarrassing, but I just stood there and allowed this behavior to conclude.
Once I was acceptably cleaned and re bandaged again, I was then dressed in fancy undergarments, and given a brand new blue and white dress which was somewhat awkward to move around in. They also insisted on re-braiding my crown to my head as I was keen to doing myself. I did show my dislike for this display, by refusing the new human proprietary shoes they tried to place on my feet. I instead remained barefoot with several pieces of new jewelry dressed on me from head to toe. I admit now the toe rings were actually quite comfortable.
Their sentiment was rather refreshing to me, but at the same time a bit unwanted, I didn’t like being considered as equal to the human Emperor. Even though I knew they didn’t feel I was being treated as such, it still did make me uncomfortable.
Once this show of affection was over with, I decided to do what always was required of me to do in such situations as when the liberation of people from the Imperium was involved. I recited the declaration of freedom, this time over the ship’s intercoms, so that all aboard could be endowed with its inherent rites which were so clearly given from its words.
This was finalized by the usual cheering and then the moment of silence for our fellow lost and fallen warriors that sacrificed themselves to make this all possible.
It was then also preceeded by, yet another sermon, from the now rising in fame, Sir Bishop. His services were starting to really take heart among our people, like a fire through a countryside bushland back on Earth. His charismatic reading of scripture seemed to be rather openly influencing my brethren more than anything I’ve ever seen or done to affect them. This Christianity I do also relate seems to be appealing to me as well.
The remainder of the day was busy and filled with preparations for our arrival back to the homeworld. The klaxon alarms on this ship were quite alarming and loud, but their signal meant that we were exiting the hyperspace jump. I was rather quickly routed to the bridge and rushed to take my chair on the command platform at the center.
I wanted to greet Lord Charn as soon as we were in range, which I found he was quite surprised to see my new outfit when he appeared on the transparent colored holographic display before me.
He commented rather avidly, “Milady, you look absolutely regal in that attire!”
I acknowledged his pleasantries, “Thank you Lord Charn, but I heard you have fared quite well in this past campaign yourself.”
He of course continued his banter, “Yes milady, quite well indeed, but surely paled in comparison by the prized vessel you have brought forth wouldn’t you say!”
I decided to humor him, “Well, it would never have been made possible without your contributions, my friend! While I have high hopes for it, what of the Ark, is it still salvageable?”
He answered, “Well sadly your highness, it was not as well intact as it could have been, we have decided it was best served as our new star base, so we have begun converting it as we speak.”
I then commended his forethought, “This is a good omen; I have also found some equipment aboard that will likely help you with that construction project. Also I have quite a few other surprises to show you as well. For now we would appreciate an escort to this new base if you would be so kind.”
He responded with the same respects as usual, “I am honored milady, please follow us to the rendezvous when you are ready. King of the War Council out!”
With that reunion finally concluded we were then led by the newly dubbed, L.I.S. Freedom, our captured Imperial light cruiser. It was rather intimidating with a darkly black painted hull but seemed to be still welcoming to see such familiar sites from my days in the service of the tyrant navy. I admit it was sorta admirable to know it was our ship now.
Charn had decided to set up a formal designation for our ships so we could tell them apart from the Imperials. Not that such would likely be needed for my new flagship as I doubted the Imperials would ever build another of its configuration. Nonetheless, he had the ship’s transponder reprogrammed on the cruiser to read L.I.S. as its government designation. I wondered what the acronym stood for until we were close enough to see out the forward view port, that he had painted the words Liberated Intergalactic States across his ship’s hull.
He had a rather poetic way of using symbols to portray his views across to others. He also had blotched out the Imperial propaganda from his hull as well. I figured he might also use whatever materials I could bring in order to further paint his ship to his tastes. This rather demanding way he would insist on personalizing all of his property did concern me a bit, he seemed quite possessive and greedy when it came to claiming prizes from the Solian Empire.
I knew I would one day also have to deal with his views later on, but I decided to let his actions not be challenged, thinking back on this later perhaps this might prove to be a mistake. Nonetheless I continued on giving commands as required to my followers, and we arrived at the new station which I chose to rename Liberty Station.
Once there we docked up to the barely there hulk which would soon become the spaceport we were going to build there. This former mining ship had already been mostly cannibalized; its exterior hull having been cut up and blown out by both the battle and being redesigned into a viable space platform. Mainly the only remaining thing still left of its former shape was its bridge and upper decks. The lower hull was completely refitted onto parts of what appeared to be other battleships and other ships damaged or lost in the very same battle.
I was a bit surprised by how much work had been done in what would seem like less time than needed to build it. It in reality had been a full two and a half weeks because the attack fleet, which I had originally attacked with, had retreated in much faster time than we had. They also had been quickly fortifying our home, while at the same time staving several retaliatory strikes. Including the one which Charn had prized his beloved L.I.S. Freedom.
I was really interested in how we were supposed to dock at this unusual monstrous bastardization, which my people had built. It took a bit of time to close with the station. But once we were in range we were grappled by what looked like the same robotic arm like clamp devices that had held the ship back at the shipyard. These arms locked our airlock to the boarding gantry made from the old Ark’s space mining drill. They had cut the drill bit off and hollowed it out to build an airlock out of it. All of these unusual modifications, I had assumed had been carried out by none other than Lord Ben, whom was among the first to greet us at the airlock.
This greeting was as lively as ever. The usual exciting chants, “Long live the Queen!” overshadowed by the cheering of happy people, and laughing children. They were giving out ceremonial bead necklaces which were made from various makeshift pieces of medium. It was like coming home to a celebration every time I returned.
Our Confederate guests were particularly made welcome by warm foods and refreshing drinks. Such tradition was encouraged by me and the other royals. So it was never like we felt wrong in doing these greetings in such perilous times. We were free, and as such we shared our supplies with all liberated peoples, even if they were scarce for ourselves.  I also wanted them to feel like we were sharing in whatever hardships they were feeling, by giving others what little we had. It was a new custom which would come to cause a trifle of tribulations later in the future of our new society, but, even still it was a custom we honored from the first day and still continue to this very day.
It wasn’t too much longer ‘til we had all finished our initial greeting when Diva Silvian graced us with yet another of her inspiring performances. Her voice was like a silver bell to the hearts of our little revolution. We were immediately silent when she began to lead several of us in what would later be our national anthem.
The song was actually pretty short but the words were so inspiring, that it made all of us decide it would best serve to inspire our cause to continue to gain momentum. It was rather crude its musical score mostly consisting of drum beats and flute solos. Even in spite of this its chorus consisted of the most inspiring phrase, “Let us be free!” which in many ways would become our Motto as we marched on any oppressive enemy we would come to fight.
The song’s words were rather simple, and the chorus simply repeated the same verse over.
“Let us be free! No oppressions will bind us, our souls will remain free! Wherever you will find us, freedom shall you see. With our coming this promise shall it be! Let us be Free!
Happiness is freedom, liberty is justice. Through both you will find the truth!
Let us be free! Let us venture beyond the ether sea! Let us see, what wonders lay in wait for our voyage to be free. Let us be free! 
We are the children of the free spirits which spawned us! We were shackled by those who would claim our lives as theirs to own, but I say we are no one’s slave. Let us celebrate as we break free!
Let us be free! We shall not rest till all can share freedom with all of our kind! We will leave no one behind! Let us be free!”
The rest was simple elaborations of our declaration; it was entirely a short but sweet song. Once it had concluded, we each would retire to our own rituals of celebration. It was a lot of drinking and other wild parties, but the constant music and dancing was mostly contained to the open areas of the station. You could hear the noise from every part of the station. There were those among us that would disperse off to their own private places to discover how much freedom we could now venture into. I admit this did make me consider some ideas with me and Jack.
This constant banter would cause a bit of tension among those that visited our new home, but it would soon become a regular practice once a year among our society, we would call it “Freedom day”. This holiday would occur on the same solar cycle of our new homeworld. This celebration would become an annual way to celebrate every achievement our new culture would achieve as well. The celebration would officially become a whole month in length by Earth standard times, but it was now coming to an end as of this week’s cycle.
Even in spite of the seemingly lengthy period of weakness, this celebration would seem to later prove to be the greatest way of spreading our revolt among my fellow Bioforms. And even spread some of our cultural beliefs among others as well. This celebration carried on for the rest of the week, and would rival any large gathering ever celebrated in Earth history. In the future periods of this gigantic party, would come to include any people regardless of their current status of freedom.
Even still the celebrations would bring with it, a rather calm period in the galactic war raging across the galaxy. The Emperor was marching across the known universe to try and bring it under his triumphant leadership, and this meant genocide for any who disagreed with his way of thinking. Likely this would certainly mean tragedy for me, but I was willing to fight him all the same.
The Empire had evolved from a simple philosophy that mankind was created in the image of a god, and this god had given them the tools to create of their own image. This was where I had been born from, but in truth they did not create my soul, only my body. Even though I understood where I had come from, I also knew that they had only taken an alien genetic material and used it to create me and my kind from DNA of other sources. This is why I had the animal traits I do from the wings and the tail, and yet the body form of a human female. I was pondering the real meaning of my birth when Charn insisted on an audience with me.
“Milady, I beg a moment of your time?” he resounded with the tone of drunkenness in his voice.
I agreed to hear him out in spite of his intoxication, “Fine Lord Charn, but do me a favor and keep that foul smelling breath to yourself, at least till you sober up, please!”
He continued his rant till I was satisfied he was good and annoyed, “I apologize milady, but I wanted you to know I don’t disapprove of your relationship with the Confederate human, in fact I find his connections with them quite useful . For a human he seems quite resilient as well.”
I responded, “As gratifying as your approval may seem I find that you think I even care if you give me permission or not, however I am glad that you do find him acceptable.”
He of course seemed to be unrelenting, “I meant no offense your highness, but I thought you would want to consider the possible effect such a relationship would have on your followers.”
I of course then solved his concerns by then interrupting the celebration, “My fellow libertarians, if I may have your attentions please!” I then motioned for Jack to come closer to me. I knew he might have several suitor’s willing to challenge him and fight for the right to court me, and I knew one way to avoid this unnecessary infighting.
“I would like to acknowledge some achievements, of one among us for some time now, someone who has saved my life, and is deserving of both my and all of your gratitude, for without him, I would not be here to honor him so.” I continued, “Please Captain Jack would you kneel before me. I commanded while receiving a sword from Lord Charn.
I then knighted him with the blade drawn over his shoulders. He then stood up and I offered my hand for him to kiss my ring, which he so did. And with this motion he was officially one of my knights. Like sir bishop, he was given the same titles and the respects granted as the rest of our new libertarians, as well as the very sword which I had used to knight him.
I declared him my newest advisory position, our first admiral in charge of the royal navy which we would need to build if we were to win this war, but all of this was something we would need to settle later. For the time being I decided to let the celebration carry on as it had started. “Please feel free to give your gratitude and continue the merriment; I wish not to interrupt the festivities!”
It was all just given even more momentum with this gesture, giving several of them an excuse to offer a toast and several intoxicating drinks to Sir Jack. The party was now even rougher than it was before, but there were enough of Charn’s security officers to keep the carousing to controllable levels.
Later that day, both Jack and I secluded ourselves to a private party of our own in the new flagship’s forest garden near the fountain, where we had shared our first kiss. It was a rather romantic setting; I couldn’t help being blown away by its beautiful sights. It was like venturing into an enchanted new land hidden inside a spacecraft. It was rather surreal, and maybe even a little unbelievable.
The artificial sky overhead had its own timed cycles of daylight, even if it were fake, it was still beautiful. The current time was during the night cycle of the artificial sky.  The star lit sky was just as real to the plants as the whole thing would actually provide real sunlight, likely filtered from the actual solar energy collected from the ship’s hull solar panels. It was really fascinating, all the devices which created this garden. Even though the sky was an illusion, if you didn’t know how it worked, one would never know they were actually on a starship. It created this surreal atmosphere that even felt real enough, you would believe the stone covered walls at the edge of the room were actually just a masonry wall built around the garden to hide what was beyond them.
The whole thing was beautifully engineered to provide oxygen for the ship without having to return to a starbase to refill its stores. The ship could almost operate endlessly provided you were able to provide the needed food supply for the crew. Even the ship’s water system would create its own water, from the ship itself. The water, which came from hydrogen engines, which the ship used to perform other functions throughout the ship, they created the waters as a byproduct of the process which drove the engines.
It was all so amazing but even in spite of all these distractions, all I could do was admire Jack’s way of making the whole scene remarkably romantic. He had arranged a picnic lantern lit dinner beneath this large tree near the fountain; we ate prepared sandwiches and talked about how wonderfully the universe had seemed to be bringing us together. I didn’t care what was going on elsewhere; I never wanted to forget the feeling I was having at this very moment. We were like lovers on our first night together, I wanted it to never end.
After the romantic encounter we both retired to our cabin which I had decided to share while we were on the ship. I didn’t even mind that there was only one bed, I was just happy to be there with him. This would be the first night we had knowingly slept together.
The next day Jack had already left, likely to perform some task as a knight of our new royal court. I was met outside the stateroom by several of my female subjects, again I was dragged off to the crew facilities, to perform the usual morning grooming and dressing ritual. Even as humiliating as this form of hero worship was, I do admit it was rather flattering.
Such would become the way I would wake to each day, where I was undressed groomed then redressed in the most elaborate fashions my subjects would provide, I felt like I was creating a monster by setting them free to treat me as some sort of messiah. They believed I was here to lead them to the future they needed to be. It was always a bit overwhelming, but no matter how heavy my crown got, it would never be far from me, even when I wasn’t wearing it.
Today I had decided to only wear the crown however, and forgo the usual flare of jewelry. I didn’t want to be so waited down while I proceeded to the bridge where I sat in the golden throne which had obviously been intended for the Emperor. From this throne I would be able to make decisions for my people while I was aboard, little did I know then however, the chair would be moved to wherever I would go, but I saw no real reason why Jack wouldn’t be allowed to sit in the chair, and command his flagship while I wasn’t aboard.
The next week was spent deciding such matters as what ships would be declared to serve our royal fleet, and which duties would be given to other ships, which we would acquire that were not able to fight. All in all this process would take a lot of my time and carried on into the many months to follow.
I was forced to return to my duties for many of the days staying on the homeworld and building up our new forces to allow us to actually participate in the war. This conflict would likely take many years and I later came to feel like we needed to end this period of distrustful behavior of our Confederate refugees, which we had come to regularly rescue from the galactic war. I decided it had come time to find and contact the Confederacy leadership, and try to seek out an alliance with them. I knew they would likely require an ally in this conflict now more than ever. I was pressured by the other royals to stay and send someone else as a relative precaution, but I soon was able to persuade them to see my point of view and allow me to go personally.
I left lord Charn in charge in my absence, this time. I then called both Illi and Sir Jack to come with me on this little expedition. They had agreed to come with me in the hopes to perhaps strengthen our position, as well as make the possibility of negotiations more likely to succeed.
We then began preparations to depart, and set off in the newly named flagship. We had christened it the L.I.S. Sword of Justice. A fitting name, as it would become notorious for being in the right place at needed times. It would be like a sword held by my knight coming to rescue me on many occasions. The ship was now much better crewed by experienced space faring libertarians which Jack had in the past months trained in far better ways than Charn had shown to be training his men. In addition to them, a few of the Confederate scientists had taken residence in our scientific, medical, and various other facilities on board. So every possible position on the ship had been readily manned by the time we had been ready to leave.
Jack was a much more able naval commander than Charn as he had been trained exclusively to running a space vessel, where as Charn was much more suited for ground based engagements. Even his prized ship the L.I.S. Freedom was mostly meant to serve as a landing carrier rather than a space fleet vessel. Still, he had proved quite capable in utilizing the ship’s defensive measures around the homeworld. In spite of his aptitude for fighting on the ground he was still decently skilled in running logistical operations across the space based fronts. This is why I felt so confident, that he would be the perfect candidate to guard the homeworld.
It took us a week by homeworld standard time, to finally be supplied and ready to leave, but once we were ready, we left as quickly as possible. I was rather eager to make contact with the Confederacy before there was no ally to seek out. The few reports we could get from the garbled transmissions and what stolen intelligence we could glean from the Empire, circumstantially pointed to the fact that the Confederation was losing the war.
“We had to find them and liberate what little hope was left for freedom!”
Chapter 9

Hope of freedom

It wasn’t but a mere hours time, after we left, when I started to feel oddly at ease. It was as if I were being watched over and protected, I was standing alone in the ships upper firing control room, which was located on the very topside in the forward fuselage, so it had a rather large window with which to view the outside of this ship. 
The ship was one of the most remarkable designs I had ever had the fortune to see for myself. Its shape was rather unique, shaped almost like a gigantic bird with a long neck just aft of the bridge, and the body shaped similarly like the body of a swan, and the wings were starched out and swept forward like a bird in flight. it had these large wings which didn’t really seem to serve any real purpose in space, but they actually were designed to increase the ships ability to gather solar energy through the solar cells which lined nearly every inch of hull space. In addition to this however, it made the ship streamlined for atmospheric entry as well. it was just small enough to be capable of landing on a planet, yet large enough to still classify as a capital class vessel. it was large enough to also still carry the massive battleship turrets which looked similar to the ones carried on ancient sea going battleship vessels which I had seen once back on earth a long time ago.
This ship did greatly impress me in more than just looks however, we had come to know its capabilities both as the fleets flagship as both a combat vessel as well as an efficient support craft. We had used it to make necessary expansions to liberty station before we had left home, so it had already seen its share of non-combative duties as well. But as far as its combat capabilities, this ship was just like me, still a virgin.
This reflection of mine, which I had been also viewing in the window, made me realize just how precious this free time really was. It was one of the few times I could reflect on all that was happening, and later I would learn to cherish such times. I would meditate on all of these issues, what needed to be done, why I was doing all of this. It was a serious responsibility, in which I was forced to do a lot of things I may not have liked, but as Illi said, “you should do as you must, not as you are told to do.” I followed this ideal as though it were a new belief. It was somewhat of a religions guidance to me to let my passions Gide my actions. As long as what I felt was the right thing to do for all of us, then  I would do whatever was needed to protect this new found Freedom. I refused to let others be enslaved again, even those born into this empires oppressions.
In times like these, I could almost sense the feelings of this vessels crew, it was strange to me. It was as if I were able to anticipate their actions, and in a small way, I could affect their moods. It was the oddest feeling I still to this day barely understand.
My next action after securing the confederacy's support, would need to then be aimed at liberating, or god forbid , at least destroy or disable, the many hidden bioform breeding plants. Which were the source of my future brethren were being conditioned to be forced to be pushed into the oppressive services of the false god emperor.
I sat in the chair in front of the window for several hours alone, the first day was rather peaceful for such a busy turn of events. When I felt restless I went up to the command bridge and went over some more intelligence files, attempting to glean from them where I would find some of those necessary hidden breeding plants we would need to shut down or free from imperial control, in order to slow down the Empire's march.
My efforts were less than fruitful however, the empire had been diligent in hiding these installations, so finding one was rather near to impossible. They were obviously getting resources including bioform soldiers from somewhere, but I couldn’t find out where. There was no way they were getting the unlimited firepower, from within the empire itself. They wouldn’t have been able to hide such a large buildup of arms from the confederacy's officials. They would have found some evidence, to support this invasion was imminent. They were very good at hiding it, wherever they were getting them from regardless.
After much exhausting work of getting nowhere, I took it upon myself to simply find some more active things to do for the next fer hours, by helping Sir jack with a few crew training exercise’s , it was a lot of shouting orders, but one I had gotten the hang of this kind of work, I actually started to enjoy it. For the most part I was more interested in getting to know him better.
It was actually pretty interesting to learn some of the terms of starship commands. I noticed the almost all of the terms were nearly identical nautical vessels back on earth. It would seem naval traditions of the times before mankind had begun the space-faring age was for the most part very important to starships of today. The usual terms of ship directions still applied to starships. Port meant the left side of the ship, starboard meant the right side of the ship, just the same as a vessel on earth's oceans. fore meant towards the front of the ship,  Midships meant towards the center of the ship, and aft meant to the rear of the ship. 
	Nearly the only major difference between starships and seafaring ships, was that any term pertaining to the words seas or ocean were simply replaced with the words space or ether.
	Other than that, there were entirely new terms for some apparatus and such aboard ship. For example, the Space navigation compass was simply called a “Nav. Scope”. There also something which created artificial gravity while we were in deep space called a “Gravity Diffusion Device”, this was simply called the “G-diffuser”.they also had terms for performing actions aboard ships as well, such as the term for activity while in jump, the term for this was, “Fast Travel Action”. There were a lot of other new words to learn as well, and jack was very delighted at my interest to learn them, but sadly he was called off the other duties before he could teach me any more.
I was left to carry on my own for the rest of the day, so I had to try and occupy myself or be forced to undergo yet another of my followers new rituals, involving something called “makeup” they insisted on showing my how to paint my claws different colors With something called “nail polish”. I was not at all amused by this idea at all, they were seeming to enjoy the idea of making me look as visually attractive as possible. Although I admit, I did find the new clothing and jewelry which they had applied to my tail to be very comfortable.
I then decided, to go “Aft” to “The Crew Mess Hall” for some nourishment, I had become rather hungry after all of this tiresome work. On the way there however, I was stopped suddenly by unforeseen pain. My ears started painfully ringing with a distantly familiar sound. I was almost exactly like the sounds and feelings I had when I first found that alien device back on Eden Prime, which I had only just realized I had misplaced somewhere since we had acquired this starship.
It was an almost angelic,  just like a female voice singing harmoniously, except this time, it was so strangely crippling and loud I just fell unconscious. I could feel myself drifting off, as if falling from a great height, I could feel like a great power had swept me up and brought me somewhere else inside the ship.
When I woke up I was in a room I had not ever seen before, I don't really know, where exactly I was at the moment. But this room seemed rather important and definitely a major part of the ship. I was in a somewhat round shaped control room of some kind. there was this really large blue tinted source of light behind some kind of large glass window towards the very front of the room, and it was very cramped down here, with controls and mechanical equipment everywhere. from what I could tell of  this place, I was apparently deep within the ships power reactor, Possibly even beneath it.
I could somehow sense the ships crew and all of the scattered thoughts of them, it was the weirdest sensation I had ever felt as I drew closer to the window at the front of the room.
Suddenly upon reaching the window, I was startled by a female voice from behind, “Amazing, Isn't it, Mother?”

I turned quickly but wasn’t able to place where the voice had come from. There was no one else here, and this reference of Mother, had caught me completely off guard. I was slightly worried I had been hallucinating, until I again heard the voice, “you wont see me from down there, mother, I am part of this ship now. Thanks to you, that is?”
I glanced at the center of the room, which seemed to be the source of this new entity's voice. “well, perhaps if I could still hear you, at least you could tell me who, or what you are?” I responded with a slight confusion in my tone of voice.
The entity responded back, “In time Mother, I wish you could only see what I'm doing for you, but I must stay hidden here.”
I questioned her further being careful not to seem too aggressive, “But, why hide yourself from me, When you say I am your mother, does no one else have at least the right to meet you more than I.”
She answered once again, “Yes mother, you do deserve that right, but, I do not wish to overwhelm your newly awakened senses with my appearance`, so instead, I will show you how to use them.”
before I could respond, I was once again stricken by the singing load voice, but this time I could tell it was many voices, and not just the one. The pain this time subsided, and I found myself in the medical bay once again.
My knight Jack was leaning over me asking me of my well being, “Are you alright milady? We found you collapsed outside the engineering section of the ship.”
I answered his concerns, “Yes admiral, I am fine, but I feel really strange... never mind, its nothing.” I decided to sway off this unusual circumstance, and ask for a progress report, “how long have I been asleep, and have we reached our destination yet?”
he answered, “you’ve been out for nearly a whole week, and yes were about to make the exit to normal space.”

directly following his answer the klaxons and alert for indicating that the exit was in progress was sounding again. I admit this only compounded my headache, the sounds only drove the spike of the pain deeper in my skull. Luckily it was only a short alert. I immediately made haste towards the bridge so I could give commands as soon as we had returned to normal space.
We had arrived, in the likeliest system to find the confederacy's surviving fleet. Even though, I doubted they would attack us on site, I still had this ships battle systems on standby in case we were perceived as a threat, by our new possible allies. I doubted that they would be hostile, however, as we were flying around in a starship that was nothing like any of the ships known to be flown by the empire. I had hoped, this fact alone would make them receptive to our friendship messages.
	Once we had exited hyperspace, we arrived to great surprise, onto the scene of battle. The empire had already found the confederate insurgents. It looked like we would have to save them from their fate yet again.
	I ordered immediately, “ Target the nearest Imperial Starship's and open fire! I Repeat fire! All guns fire at will! ”
	the chaos of this excitement, was nowhere near as terrifying as the fury our main cannon unleashed upon our enemies, it's blast was far suppressor to what they were capable of inflicting on the confederate ships.
	The battle began rather alarmingly fast after that, but our first main gun volley had caught the enemies lead ship by complete surprise. It was also a much larger destructive blast than I had expected, it nearly cut the massive ship clean in half. This of coarse had a rather deafening effect on the other fleet vessels, all of  which set about into a chaotic full retreat.
	 Before they were able to escape our support cannons managed to also make an additional three kills. After which I ordered the crew to render aid to the new allies we had just rescued, “All hands prepare to extend aid to the confederate forces, medical personal prepare to receive wounded!”
	 I then ordered Admiral Jack, “Admiral, if you would please radio over our intentions to them before they open fire on us by mistake?”
	He promptly followed orders, “This is the Liberated alliance vessel, Sword of Justice, do you need assistance? Repeat do not open fire, we wish to render aid, please respond!”
	The Confederate commander responded, somewhat confused, “This is acting Fleet Commander Kyle Renaude! We accept your aide, please come alongside so we can exchange wounded personal.”
	I was slightly alerted by his name, “Acting Fleet Commander? Kyle is that you?”

	He answered still confused, “Excuse my memory, whoever you are, but I will be coming aboard myself so we can reacquaint in person. Standby to receive our casualties.”
	I was eager to meet this Fleet commander, so I quickly went to the ships docking airlock where their shuttles were unloading the casualties. The first shuttle didn't have this Commander Kyle on board. But when the second one was fully unloaded, he was helping a wounded soldier out of the shuttle.
	Upon seeing his face, I knew it indeed was the same man, which I had found in his own living room, and had freed me from the empire so long ago. I couldn't help my excitement as I ran over to him, screaming his name, “Kyle! It is you! I knew it was you!”
	he was quite receptive opening his arms wide to me as I ran up and hugged him rather warmly. I admit the outburst did feel a tad awkward now as I realized I had left My Admiral Jack standing alone.
	After I regained my composure, “ I am so Sorry, I almost forgot to introduce myself, I have a new name now, I am Lady Sadaria, of the newly formed Liberated Intergalactic States.” I then motioned over to Jack, “and this is my Fleet Admiral Jack Marinose, whom you may have already met as well.”
	Kyle quickly stood at attention and saluted the former captain, “Sir, it is a pleasure to find you have succeeded on your last operation, Sir!”
	Jack of coarse dismissed his show of respect, “At ease, uh, lieutenant? Oh I see field promotion, commander then! I have chosen to defect, in favor of a more suitable cause, so you don't have to salute to me, your the real hero here.”
	I chose to diffuse the tension a bit, “Well Commander, I am sure you have a great deal of concern for your men, but, Why don’t you and I retire to the gardens for negotiations, and let the Admiral deal with their care for the time being.”
	“ I took his hand and led him onward to the ships arboretum, where we discussed the events that had brought us together once again.
	He had several questions, “So Lady Sadaria? Is that a royal position I assume?”

	I answered, “You are correct, but its not exactly my idea you see, my fellow slaves have set up a democratic statistician, but I suppose you could say traditions are not as easy to break I guess.” 
	I then further elaborated, while I accepted a cup of hot tea from one of my often present followers whom had gathered all about the ship. “you see, even though the government which we have built is a aristocratic statistician form of government, we feel the right way to lead others is through example. And that's why we have set up a council of democratic monarchs.” I then sipped down a small taste of my fresh tea, while he was offered a second cup for himself, he liked more sugar in his tea.
	he seemed to understand quickly, “well, I admit I never expected to see you again, but I am glad you have found yourself a real place to call your own.”
	I then asked him, “So, what about yourself? Are the others safe? I'm sorry for being so up front, but I'm more concerned of their safety.”
	Kyle answered subtly, “Yes, they are completely safe. I joined the Alliance Navy, so I could actually do something about this damn war!” 
	he then sighed a calming breath before continuing, “ the senator you knew back then, Derrick. He in fact, is here on the planet nearby, and Alex is safely staying with some displaced relatives of mine in a refugee home way beyond the war font. In fact, I think Derrick will want to talk to you, he's taken a personal interest in representing your petition for asylum.”
	I found this rather Reliving news, “well, I’m glad they are safe then, oh, I almost forgot Lori and Lady Illi are also safely here with us as well.”
	he sounded a little less concerned for them, but still seemed reassured, “well, I had kind of assumed they both were with jack, based on his being present here. Last I had seen of him was being captured by imperial marines. But, I’m still pretty relieved to hear all of you are fine too.”
	we both then discussed his presence here and how he came to be the commander of the ships we had rescued.
	Kyle began his side of the story, “well, I was just a lowly lieutenant just a few hours ago, but the captain of my ship was the first casualty of the attack. I was forced to become the ranking officer, and try to save the ship, but that’s about when you showed up and pulled my ass out of the proverbial fire.”
	I then critiqued with my version, “well, I have a knack for being just in time to help. And besides, if I hadn't happen to have been raiding the prison where jack and Lori were being transported to, they would still be slave labor for the empire as well.”
	kyle was every bit as determined and distant as I remembered, but I could tell he had grown a great deal more mature as well. We spent the rest of the day getting back the lost time between Jack, Lori, and I.
	The ship then proceeded to the planet, where we made the rendezvous with yet another old friendship. Senator Derick met us at the airlock, where he was knelt down with his head bowed, as if making a statement to my newly established leadership role.
	He rather coyly stated, “milady, it is both an honer and a pleasure to finally meet you in person! Please allow me, to serve you in your future position as a member of this great confederacy's alliance!”
	I promptly instructed him to get up. “friend's need not bow to me Senator, and I would be all to happy to accept your offer, but it is far too soon for such talk, as I have even less authority to claim it, as you do to be claiming to offer me confederate membership.”
	 He of coarse took my offer of hand, as a gesture to kiss my ring,while returning to his feet and reevaluating his statement, “I meant my statement with the utmost of confidence, milady, as I have little doubt the confederacy would accept such a gracious offer of friendship and cooperation, of coarse.”
	this warming reunion concluded with an invitation to yet another celebration, but this time we were the ones invited.
	“Please milady, would you be so kind as to accompany me down to the surface to celebrate your arrival?” the senator befuddled brazenly as if to persuade me to humor his displays of diplomacy.
	The senator, had arranged a party on the planet below, which we were ferried to, by a newly arriving shuttle shortly thereafter. And this shuttle was a lot more used than what I had expected, it was obviously very worn from use in the battles waging down below.
	After on board the shuttle, it quickly departed for the planet, planetary approaches always made me so nervous. Even though this time was mostly a smoother landing, than others I have experienced. I  still felt tense the entire flight. The shuttle shook and vibrated with every motion of the pilots input, and this caused me to become rather motion sick. The senator was very kind to offer a bag with which to regurgitate in.
	We flew over the confederacy's small outpost which was nothing more really than a simple campsite, full of tents, and several temporary structures. From our approach in the shuttle, I could easily tell from looking out the window, that the confederacy was not doing well in this war. They had clearly been in conflict recently, as several burning vehicles were also strewn around the campsite, as well as many still laying dead bodies of both sides. The campsite looked as if it had just barely held on during the entire attack.
	When we landed, we had set down on the inner most clearing of the campsite, inside the designated tarmac located there.
	This wars effect on them had became even more evident, by the constant stares we received upon arrival. They were obviously confused and a bit angry by our presence. Many of them appeared to be wounded both emotionally as well as physically.
“You see, I had not realized just how serious this war had become, until now!”

	The looks on their faces were obvious signs of fear, confusion, and anger. They had been fighting my former companions in slavery, thus, They had been getting used to hating our kind. They have been getting attacked and shot up by members of my very own race. And our presence appeared to be only upsetting to many of them. They were all on guard, many were purposely checking their weapons within clear view of us, and showing their paranoia of our intents, in any way they could. They were all looking towards us with the same aggression which had been placed upon any of our kind. 
	Kyle himself had been obligated to stay behind on the Liberty, to regroup his forces in orbit, as his new field promotion had now granted him the responsibility of organizing them.
	The senator on the other hand was eager to placate their tensions, with rather over the top bravado which was not well received at all, “Rest assured my friends these outsiders are not here to start any trouble, in fact! They have just saved us from an attack which could have spelled certain doom, for our forced here on the ground!” they didn’t even seem the least bit interested in his ramblings. He seemed to be causing more harm than good with his continued speeches, “surely you would not turn away our only help, it is not like we can afford to lose this war!”
	He was quickly silenced by the mob gathered around us, the shouting broke out “We don’t need their help, they started this suffering in the first place!” followed by a rumbling torrents of similar shouts “ Make them go back home, we don’t want their scum here!”
	The crowd was starting to get rather violent when someone began firing their rifle into the air. This behavior silenced the mob rather effectively.
	This female humanoid confederate officer, then suddenly stepped out of the mob, shouting herself “Look at yourselves! cant you see how pathetic you look? You’ve all forgotten the ideals for which you are all fighting for. These former slaves came to help, and this is the thanks you give them!” the crowd was seeming a slight more receptive of her attempts than the senators.
	She continued, “now I don't care what started all of this, but I will not tolerate this kinds of behavior in my camp!” she paused a moment then started ordering the members of the mob around, “Forbes, I expect you to do better in crowd control next time! Jacobs, You get some of these idle hands up on the defense patrols! The rest of you better get your asses, out of my site till our guests leave, or I'll personally find something unpleasant for you all to do!
	She then introduce herself, “I must apologize for the behavior of my men, I am captain Millay, but you can just call me captain Mill.” I was very impressed by this woman’s charisma, and she was also rather good at inspiring the others obviously under her command.
	She was very confident, and I assumed this was likely a trait all of her race seemed to share. she was apparently of the same race as Illi, whom she had seemed to have not noticed was standing right behind me. This woman, had the same pointed ears which Illi also did, but she had different other odd traits as well.
	She had light purple tinted skin, and was slightly shorter than Illi, and her curvacious body seemed to also imply she had the same nimble muscle strength Illi was capable of. She was wearing a similar uniform to the one Illi was wearing when I had first met her, but her's was obviously not as fancy, as hers had fewer medals and insignia. I had assumed she was a ranking officer, but likely not as high rank as Illi. She also did not seem to be a simple observer, as Illi had indicated herself to be, she acted with the authority to actually order the other soldiers around. I doubted this would have been the case if she were just a government representative.
	She continued her respectful show of compassion, “please follow me to the camp central command, I have a secure link to both our forces in orbit, and my high command.” she then led us off to the very center of the campsite where a large tent was set up next to some kind of satellite dish transmitter.
	Illi had seemed a might timid since our arrival, she hadn't even so much as said a word since our arrival. Even more odd she seemed to be avoiding our new escorting friend. She wasn't acting at all like I had known her to be, she was usually more outspoken. She had taken to the very back of our group, and didn’t seem to feel comfortable at all the entire way there.
	We arrived inside of the tent where two large screens were showing a communications video feed of kyle in orbit who greeted me when I came within sight, “welcome milady, I was just discussing our situation to the Regent here.” he made a hand gesture to the other screen which had a feed of an older human male wearing a rather elaborate uniform similar to Illi's old one. Which also addressed me, “yes, my new commander, has held you with great esteem, and I have heard more than enough of your peoples position from the senator behind you.”
	The second man, looked quite pleased with their next bit of news, “we have decided to allow your alliance to go forward, until the conflict with the empire has resolved, at such time , we will negotiate further as to the terms of that agreement.” the Regent took a breath then continued, “I have been personally governed authority to make this agreement for the time being, that we will declare your people as liberated refugees, and as such will be treated with the same respect of any confederate protected peoples.”
	I intersected before this agreement went on too far, “As much as I appreciate this decisions timely consideration, I would like to express my concern for the conflict of which you have spoken, we do not seem to have a lot of time or leeway with which to delay a counter to the Imperial attacks.”
	The Regent seemed quite confident when he rebuked, “I assure you we are doing all we can to expedite to a defense, and I do appreciate your concerns, but further discussion on that matter, I feel, would be better suited for a time we meet in person.”
	I decided to concede to his point, “I look forward to that time, but in the mean time, please consider my little gift here, I have captured some intelligence from the empire.” I paused, then held up a data storage devise containing the still encrypted imperial intelligence files. “we were unable to decode any of this one ourselves, but I hope your people will succeed, and put it to better use.”
	we had captured the device in a recent raid, along with several more like it, but this particular one was proving much harder to decrypt. so I thought by offering it to them, it might be better chance to get to the bottom of whatever the imperials were hiding in it. I handed this device to the Captain Mill standing next to me.
	The regent seemed deeply relieved by this gesture, “we appreciate this gift a great deal, I hope the commander will see it safely delivered to our intelligence branch quickly!” he then ordered the captain, “Captain Mill, I'm ordering a full retreat. see to the retreat from that planet is carried out smoothly, we will be ordering a fall back to our outpost here in the Calisdian System!”
	he followed this order with another one aimed to the commander, “Commander Kyle, I’m trusting you to deliver our guests here as soon as the withdraw from the planet is completed.” shortly thereafter his screen went dark.
	The captain seemed a bit less formal once the regent had apparently ended the transmission. “I guess that means the brass is done talking, its about time.” she then commented to the commander,  “Sir I would rather our guests be delivered back to their own ship for the time being, I have a lot of work to do getting us off this rock.”
	Kyle obliged her request, “I understand captain. Senator, if you done fooling around, get them back here and next time consult me before you decide to rial up the tempers of our men!”
	The senator was rather subdued and slightly humiliated only just nodding and waving us on back to the shuttle. He led us back to the shuttle, which took back off exactly as quickly as when we had arrived. The pilot seemed to be really eager to get us back as fast as humanly possible. I cant say that I blamed them for being so sore of our kind, we did destroy their home capital, but even still, I felt obliged to prove that it was against our own free will in doing so.
	One we were back aboard the Justice, we were warmly met by my followers as per the usual kneeling and bowing secession. After which I was escorted to the bridge this time with the senator himself following behind.
	Kyle had already gone back to his own starship and was on the communication holographic display when I took my seat at upon my thrown located on a raised platform at the center of the bridge. He was relaying to my ships crew what he intended to do once the retreat was underway, so I didn't have to call out any orders until we had been ready to depart.
	Once the operations began we saw several ships departing the planet, one of which we had not seen upon our arrival. This ship appeared to be nothing more than a ground support craft meant for carrying vehicles and troops. I had assessed this craft may have been hidden on the planet, and we simply had not seen the confederacy's initial landing site which likely is where the ship had been hiding. The ship also had its own accompaniment of several smaller support craft alongside it.
	The organization of the confederate fleet seemed almost equal to the well disciplined organization of the empires own fleet, but they seemed to be not a consolidated as the empire tended to be. For example, their civilian and military fleet vessels did not fly in separated formations, and this seemed to actually give them an advantage. If they were able to have these civilian craft render support cooperatively with the fleet, then unlike the imperial fleet. they could operate in much wider areas of space. See, they could send out smaller ships away from the larger fleet to operate without having to commit to one solar system. We could really see this as some of such craft arrived from other nearby systems.
	Once the fleet had consolidated for the retreat, we all simultaneously linked the navigation arrays, and began the week long hyperspace jump. This was a lengthy operation, because it required all of our ships to communicate with each other digitally. this took allot of time to to do, because the smaller craft had to also dock with their respective mother vessels. This also meant that the fleet had to organize according to their functions within the fleet, and that included us as well. We had to organize our ship at the middle of the fleet with the rest of the battleships. The order of ships were different from imperial fleets. In the empire, the battleships were in front, followed by the destroyers and support craft, followed by the fleet Carriers, then finally the reaming fleet craft. In the confederacy however, the arrangement was first the destroyers and smaller attack craft, then the battleships, then the support craft, and finally the carriers. This arrangement gave them the advantage of being able to react upon whatever events came to be upon arrival in an area.
	And their digital network throughout the fleet allowed them to also remain in contact while in jump space. Also this gave them the ability to adjust coarse while traveling as well. This gave them advantages to adjust their operations much faster and in wider spans to that of the empire. This meant that the confederacy was able to operate much faster than the empire and had much more resources to utilize against them as well. This led me to wounder just how the empire was able to surprise attack the confederate capital so effectively.
	This fact made it evident the the empire had to have some kind of stealth technology which allowed them to attack with complete secrecy at any time. This also disturbed me as well, because this must have also been employed with their secret facilities from which they may have used to stockpile their invasion supplies.
	 This thought greatly concerned me, as this meant they could still attack without warning at any given time. And that alone I knew would mean even greater danger of invasion now. In spite of this, I decided to leave this deliberation till I had confirmed this stealth technology even existed. At this point I was only making wild accusation, and we had yet to decrypt anything in the way of imperial intelligence to support such theories.
	In the time during the travel, I took the liberty of gathering what information I could access from the confederate networks as well, they were kind enough to give us access to their Intel network. Even though most of it was classified, they still allowed us to use it to coordinate our records with imperial movements. This gave me a larger view of the galactic battlefield. This let me continue to meditate on the situation as well. From both of our records the empire was making advances, and seemingly without fail. This had to be stopped immediately, but how to achieve, this was the thing which eluded me. We needed a victory and we needed it soon. I had observed the effects of this war first hand, when I had landed back on that planet. and I could clearly see, that the confederates needed a morale victory. They were falling behind in this war, and that was bad for their will to fight back.
	All of this military planning made my head spin. But, I knew it was simply something I had to do or be forced to fall behind in my revolution, and that was something I could not afford. I knew what was at stake, and the chance for freedom was just too temping to resit. Both for me and my people!
	It took a long time for the trip to conclude, but the ability to interact with the other ships made the time seem less tedious. I thought, giving The commander allot of attention over the “Como Network”, would make my knighted admiral feel jealous. but, our following nights in bed together, seemed to be able to diffuse that potential political situation anyways.
	 Also I had the senator to also entertain me with his displays of constant flattery as well. I had not had much of an opportunity to get to know him before when I had first escaped the empires grasp, but his personality was somewhat of a rather entertaining possibility to be useful at times. He took to often schmoozing with, and entertaining, my constant and ever shadowing group of followers. And, this allowed me to finally be able to peruse my affections for jack without the usual ritual beauty improvement interruptions.
	I was becoming very close to the man, and this was something which I really wanted more than anything. He could make me feel like a complete and free person. He often would only do something if he knew I would approve of doing so. His gentleman personality had charmed me since the very day I had met him so many years ago. And I had often teased him, by wrapping my tail around his leg while walking alongside him when I felt in the mood for romantic relations.
	The only real mystery about him, is that eye patch of his, I had no idea as to how he had lost that eye. He never spoke of it, and I never really inquired, but I do admit it had a striking effect on me. I found it somewhat attractive as well. Battle scars would often provoke such affection among our kind, as they were symbolic of the males physical endurance. The stronger the male, as it was often believed in imperial human society, the stronger the offspring he would produce.
	The thought of having offspring, did excite me. It was widely known, that no bioform had been able to mate, and produce any children successfully. it was reported that some slaves were in fact raped often by their masters, but no offspring had been ever reported to have resulted with this sexual abuse. Also, no actual mating was reported to have ever been allowed by our former masters. So, it was simply assumed, that all bio form females were in fact, breaded to be sterile.
	This was the result of one control method which the empire had used to keep my species enslaved to them.. And this, was something I could not allow to continue. 
	I decided to discuss this matter with our new confederate doctor friend, Jenifer Fairfax. She had stayed aboard for the time being, and was mostly found in the ships medical/scientific facility. She had become much more cheerful once we had arrived back with her own people. We discussed the possibility of researching a way for me to obtain the ability to self breed.
	I had approached her in her newly claimed office in private so we could discuss in private, “Doctor, may I speak with you about a matter important and privately please?”
	She was receptive, locking her office door behind us, “of coarse milady, I was hoping to discus our status as asylum with you.”
	I changed the subject by acknowledging her concerns, “Yes, I have already made the arrangements to accept the asylum of coarse doctor, but first I would hope to discus something a bit more of a discrete medical nature.” 
	she seemed a bit relieved by my decision, “you can count on me to be as discrete as necessary, where  my client doctor patient privileges are concerned.”
	I then went straight for the point, “I want you to run a test on me, to see if I can become pregnant?”

	she seemed very off guard, “I don't understand your request?” she then reevaluated, “do you have some kind of sexual dysfunction I need to be aware of?”
	I realized I must have needed to explain my condition to her, “I'm sorry doctor, I forget you were ignorant of my species' origins, you see we are a genetically created race by the empire.”
	She then seemed to be understanding better, “I see, and you want me to see if you can be able to breed without the empire's intervention.”
	I responded, “Yes doctor! I had hoped you might understand the importance that would bring to my people.”
	She then stated her intent to help, “I promise I will do whatever I can to make your people as self dependent as possible, and Ill begin the testing immediately.”
	She then took me out of her office, to my own medical bed and drew a privacy curtain around us to be more discreet. 
	Then she instructed me, “if you would please disrobe and get on the table, so I can begin, I promise this wont take long? and started preparing to take blood and other body fluid samples samples.
	 I admit this made me a bit uncomfortable, but If I wanted children I did as asked, and she was very quick and gentile. The tools she used were fast and had the needles over with the collecting of the samples, before I even knew anything had happened. And I was getting dressed again and on my way.
	The doctor assured me, “I will run tests on these as fast as possible, in the mean time, I see no reason to concern yourself with any sexual dysfunction, you appear quite healthy and capable of intercourse.”
	I admit this subject made me feel shy as I finished dressing. “Its not my ability I'm worried about, but I appreciate your discretion and compassion for my condition.”
	she returned with another request, “If you like, I can run the same tests on the rest of your people, and see if I can work up a treatment, it would increase the odds of success.”
	I responded, “yes doctor, that would be quite acceptable, if you could extend them the same discretion of coarse. I would hope the future of our race be in your capable hands.”
	she seemed to be rather compassionate over this prospect, “Yes, I hope I can only ensure the continuation of your peoples liberation from the empire's control.” she also added, “Good luck milady, and tell whoever the lucky man is for me, he is very fortunate to have you as a partner!”
	I simply blushed and brushed off without response, and returned to my usual royal obligations.

	I was curious as to why the doctor and her colleges had applied through governmental asylum, and to stay with us and had even petitioned me, to allow her and the others to stay aboard. I had granted her and the other scientists requests of coarse, but only within the conditions of my ability to do so. Her government was not as receptive of their desires, but I was able to use the senator to negotiate on their behalf.
	I had also taken a lot of time to carefully discuss the conditions of the alliance agreement with the senator, but we couldn’t do much until we had arrived in the new star system and ratify the agreement with the regents waiting there. This prompted the senator to give me a lesson in the confederacy's governmental organization. 
	You see, the government of the confederacy, was nothing like our new one, and is was almost entirely opposite to that of the empire. They had, what was called a Representative Confederacy, a government which elected people like the Senator, to negotiate on their behalf. These people were then gathered in the capital where they would stake their terms within this government. And this meant a lot of disputes would arise within this arrangement, so they had these other representatives called Regents, which would  resolve these disputes and expedite all negotiations. This system of government meant it had allot of checks and counter dictatorship measures built into itself. 
	This made me wounder how the empire had even become a part of this, as their ideals seemed to totally clash with theirs. But none the less, until the invasion, the empire was indeed a peaceful member for centuries. But also this turn of sudden events, had also revealed a major weakness in the Confederates Government. that weakness being the ability to act fast enough during a crisis. And, this was something which would show to be truthful throughout the war. 
	In the senators own words, “we needed to persuade them, they needed to stop arguing over who's fault it was, and why this was all happening, and face the evil, which is threatening us from within!”
	I had to admit the senators dramatic statement did have a ring of truth about it. But, this was likely my least relevant challenge ahead of me. I not only had to unite both of our governments, but I had to halt the imperial invasion.
“This war was going to be a lingering one if we did not act soon.”

	I was beginning to see, why I had a lot of work to do before I could achieve my political goals. My new status as a member of the confederate republic senate meant that I had a say in policy of what my newly appointed commission could do, this commission, which I had to rely on the Senator to appoint for me. Would act on our behalf and make suggestions for the rest of the government to act upon but I had no political sway in any of the galactic policy that governed the other states in the confederation. This presented my first hurdle to overcome. I needed to do something to get some influence within the other states to make sure that this war would not go on forever.
	I decided that to lay the major issues to rest until my position was better to make policy was more suited to accomplish this task. “I appreciate your guidance Senator; you have been a valuable asset in this negotiation.”
	He of course responded to my confident words, “Of course Milady, I am glad to be of service to such a wise leader and I will look forward to reviewing our position for the future of our people.”
	I advised him of our people's needs, “Yes Senator, but I feel that we must act quickly, so once I am concluded in the politics here, I will have to ask you, to stay here, and continue our contact with the Senate and act on the people's interest, till I can resolve this invasion conflict.”
	He seemed to understand my urgency, “Yes Milady, I understand, and I will do as necessary to ensure that the other states receive this with as minimal tensions as possible. I will hope our position will give us a stronger sway with the other delegates.” as he returned to the upper command center to confer with the network so he could begin appointing our new commission council.
	All of this had taken only one week, and finally we were arriving in the Calisdian star system. The usual klaxons were now sounding again, and the stars out the windows started to become clearer, and before us a rather large planet loomed before a bright white dwarf star.  This system had its own rare sights much like our home star system of Eden prime. There were seven planets, three of which were gas giants, but only two had the hydrogen needed to fuel our ships. And the planet before us was the major planet, which had the new senate temporary capital located in the largest continent on its surface, and this planet had two moons which was a rare thing to find in the universe. Both moons were orbiting the equator of the planet on exactly opposite sides. This made the planet's gravity to be in constant flux and meant that no large ships could make the approach to the surface. It seemed an almost natural fortress which is likely why it was so strategically important to the confederate forces, which were quite present here as well, with upwards of three fleets defending it at all times.
	This system was greatly impressive, both as beautiful, and as important to our new cause. “This place will have to be the last stand of the Confederacy's resistance to the Empire or else fall to its oppressions forever.” the Senator exclaimed, upon my reactive sigh of wonder after seeing, the amazing sights outside.
	Once our communications system had come back online it immediately became bombarded with chatters of several parties wanting to welcome us to the new place. But, I decided to give the regent I had met, via galactic comm array back in the other system the priority and answered his call first.
	He appeared on the holographic image on my bridge as I sat on my thrown again, “Milady Sadaria, let me extend my continued gratitude for your acceptance of our offer to join the Confederated Territories.” he bowed with respect and continued, “We are already conferring with your new Senator, and he wishes to assure you that this tragedy of the oppressions for which your people suffer, will be addressed before the Senate.”
	I returned his courtesy with my own, “I welcome your assistance as well, Regent, the Senator has also briefed me in your role within the government, and I only hope to resolve the conflict in a timely manner.” I also decided to help things go smoothly by offering him a chance to meet. “I would like to extend to you an invitation, in say one hour; for you to come aboard and discuss this in person, over a feast in our new friendships honor.”
	He accepted the invitation, “I would be gracious to accept and I look forward to that.”

	I then ordered the ship's kitchen to prepare for this diplomatic function within one hour of the transmissions end; and relayed the same for the Senator to also attend as well. I wanted him to be here, and be able to extend our courtesy to the regent. 
	He had decided to also defect to our cause, but I needed him to remain here when we left. You see, the Senator had already been declared a traitor to the Empire, and thus was no longer their representative. So he decided his best course of action was to represent us in our cause of liberation. He had made his mind up to set a goal in his life, to assure that we would be able to take our prideful place within the universe as he liked to explain it.
	He had set up his position so that he would be able to come to our capital world, and be able to still negotiate with the Senate when contact with them was possible; and thus I needed to appoint someone to relay my wishes to him, as he would now serve as my voice and ears for the Galactic Senate. This meant I would maintain contact with him on our end, while using his Senate commission, to contact and act within their end. This arrangement led me to needing a new representative to lead the commission, and for this I chose our most capable member I could find; and that was the one follower I had that I knew would make the most inspiration. 
	Lady Silvian, she had come with us, and I could think of no other to be able to lead our actions in the senate other than her.
	Of course this meant that she would need to be present on the homeworld and make any contacts needed, both with the senator and any other diplomats whenever it was possible. I also needed her to make the needed decisions I would require of her, without my direct instructions. Therefore, I had to ask her to volunteer for this position, I didn’t want to order her to do it, that would be like I was forcing her to take the responsibility. I decided however for the time being, to wait till I had more time to do so. 
	For now, I had to prepare for the feast, and that meant I actually needed a ritual bath, and a dressing session for once. This fact delighted the followers of my cause a great deal. I simply allowed them to undress then bathe and groom me this time rather than fight with them. To my amusement however, they had also decided that the Admiral, needed to undergo the same ritual as well. He was whisked off by some of the males among my followers, and I assumed was dragged into it to the same extent as I.
	They chose my most elegant attire for me, the white ballroom dress which I had worn at the first official counsel meeting after my coronation back home, only this time, they had also made up some new appropriate footwear for me as well. My crown was again braided into my hair, only this time, in a fancier style which Illi had to do for them. She had decided to help this time, and having the Admiral go along with the ritual was her idea as well.
	She was eager to make us both appear as the leaders of the new Liberated Intergalactic States. This meant we not only had to act the part, but look it as well. 
	When he had been brought back in his underwear, they began dressing him just the same as they had been for me. I admit this site was very flattering and amusing to me.
	Illi even had some jewelry made for the Admiral as well, including his own Royal Crown, and his ceremonial knighting sword. He also was given a very fancy uniform, which matched my dress' color and elegant embroidery designs.
	The predominant color was white, which we both were told symbolized the purity of our bonds together. The accompaniment color of gold was chosen for the elegance for which our roles demanded. And finally black which represented his branch for which I had elected him. The black represented the Royal Starship Navy, which he was the head leader of.
	His dress uniform had a jacket that had the gold epaulettes on each shoulder, a black sash draped across his right shoulder which had his new heraldry and ranks embroidered across it. Illi had paid great attention to details when having this uniform made for him, and I could tell she had been prepared and planned this ahead of time. It even sported his royal title which was a picture of an ancient armored knight's helmet. I approved of this symbol, and found it very appropriate. He also had the fancy ceremonial sword with which I had knighted him at his side; which had brought to my attention that he was left handed, as his sward was placed on his writing hand as was traditional. To finish off his appearance he was given some black military boots also adorned with gold trimmings.
	To Charn's later extreme dislike, I had this uniform be declared the official dress uniform for all military branches for our future government. But to my own pleasure, I chose it because I wanted us to all be seen as stronger symbols for the peoples which chose to follow us towards freedom. The sash would be Representative for whatever branch I would need, so I had to declare separate colors for each branch. So, I decided to choose red for the Army branch, black for the Space Navy branch, and finally gold for the Air Force branch. These would be later made traditional in many styles over the course of the war.
	Once we were both finally prepared, which had taken the entire hour before my invited engagement, we were taken to greet the regents at the ship's airlock.
	There was much excitement, as the airlock door opened, with the respectful declaration of my welcome. “Welcome Regents of Calisar! I am honored to invite you to our feast aboard our flagship this fine evening.”
	This of coarse was cause for my followers to chant again, “Long Live Queen Sadaria, The Generous!” They seemed to be getting better at harmonizing such declarations.
	The Regent was just as well decorated as we, but his attire was more military than formal. He was very formal and contrite when addressing me, bowing with respect, and taking great care to not intimidate anyone while greeting us.
	He introduced himself and his companions, “I am Regent Marcus, this is my daughter Casandra, and my wife Amelia. I believe you already know the Commander?”
	And with them as well, was Commander Kyle, who was reluctantly brought along as well. He seemed too shy to acknowledge himself. I decided to let him be for the time being.
	An additional Regent's colleague was also present; who by chance was of the same race as Illi, and his daughter. They introduce themselves as well, “and, I am high Regent Callin and my daughter Silurian.”
	He was the first male of Illi's race which I had the pleasure of meeting, so I was quite impressed by his stature. He was a tall deep blue skinned man, with the expected pointed ears. He was quite masculine as well. He certainly appeared to be in good shape for a man of his position in a desk job government position. He was wearing a white confederate uniform as well. He seemed quite pleased with the accommodations of my flagship as well, he scanned the entire scene with quite inquisitive eyes, as we continued to further get to know one another.
	I had to shake hands with each of them. And the only interest I had with this was when I came to the Commander, who I made extra effort to make feel less uncomfortable.
	The Regent had also brought with him a document which he made sure to tell me, was the agreement to which we would be asked to ratify by signing it upon the conclusion of the event. “We have here, the agreement which you have already reviewed, and I was hoping we could have the signing of this document after dinner, so that we can finalize our friendship as is a tradition for such occasions tend to conclude with.” Regent Marcus declared with pride.  
	I simply bowed my head in approval, “Of course Regent Marcus, I would be all too happy to oblige your offer.” I did not wish to speak too much as I was more refrained to seem rude to our guests.
	I had already reviewed the agreement beforehand and was already at a settlement to agree with its terms. So, I had decided to also have our Declaration of Freedom to be recited by me, before the signing as well. I had already discussed this with Senator Derrick the day beforehand.
	This meeting was very nervous and formal, but I knew I would have to endure such boredom often if I were to be asked to lead my people to freedom, so I tried my best not to appear as bored with it all.
	After the formal meeting, we were shown by Lady Silvian, to the ship's dining hall which had been decorated quite beautifully. They had adorned the ceiling and walls with fancy draperies, and the white and gold walls were shined and buffed to perfection. The chairs and tables were likewise decorated, and every inch of space was filled with the finest foods and delicacies our kitchen could provide.
	It almost felt like a fairytale dinner party like one mite read about in an old book back on Earth. It was all so amazing to experience; I was overwhelmed with nostalgia, as I took my seat at the head table next to Jack. The feast that lay before us was amazing and deliciously alluring.
	The Regents were seated at the guest places at the head table. Both regents were seated on the opposite sides of me and Jack. The two seemed to be on good standing with each other, but wanted to make an equality gesture towards us, by not being seated on one side or the other from us. This also had the advantage to allowing them both to talk with us without having to yell across the table.
	The Regents both informed me upon being seated, “The Confederacy is in dire straights Milady, you see, this alliance is in a time of great unrest within the Senate.” stated Marcus the local and older regent. He was the one I had seen only in communication holograms, but in person I could see he was just as aged as he had appeared.
	He seemed quite troubled as High Regent Callin continued, “You see, Milady, we were reluctant to inform you earlier, that the Senate is without a leader.” he tried to console me by explaining further, “Our former chancellor, had been killed in the attack which had resulted in the beginning of this conflict we now face.”
	This news had surprised me a great deal, but it did explain the ease of our alliance being ratified. “Well, as alarming as this news is, I trust it will have no baring on the alliance agreement?”
	The younger looking Regent seemed rather complacent when responding, “Oh of course not, Milady, we have already addressed any concerns of this agreement with the Senate.” he then reaffirmed, “We are already on the way towards finalizing the agreement. I simply wished for you to be well informed, of this situation before the signing of our alliance.”
	He seemed quite observant to my reactions, seemed to be observing my every move while I responded, “I appreciate your openness with us while such trials are causing so much trouble within both our governments.”
	He seemed to relax slightly when he further confessed, “I admit the situation was a bit disturbing, and I expected some mistrust between your race and my confederate comrades.”
	He then added so as not to appear aggressively prejudice, “But I am glad to find such an already valuable ally to forge us through these troubling times, your gift , is already being put to good use and with your approval, I will see to sharing that information with you as soon as possible.”
	I decided to begin the feast which had been waiting for my approval, by holding a toast in our guest's honor; standing and declaring, “I propose a toast to the future of a peaceful freedom! And to the architects of that future, The Regents of the Confederacy of Allied Worlds!”
	Which prompted the appropriate response by everyone by holding up and clanking together our Beer Stine glasses and repeating, “To the future of Peace!”
	With this gesture the whole festivities had begun, the drinking, eating, and carousing started as expected. live music was again played by a troupe of my followers, our libertarian anthem was performed first, followed by several folk songs which were growing in popularity among our people.
	The nights festivities continued, much merriment was had by all in attendance. And I simply secluded myself away from the Regents, and alone with Jack till the music had slowed down, and he gentlemanly offered a dance with me. I of course, abided him gladly.
	We danced just like the first time we had the first night on-board after liberating this vessel, but this time we weren’t so injured. It was a much more appealing experience, and I had gotten some chance to practice the dance moves he had showed me. We were really getting a lot of attention from the other patrons of this wonderful party, this time I was feeling like we were completely joining with each other. I don't really know why I was feeling some tense feelings at the moment; however I kept feeling like I was forgetting something.
	I couldn't tell why until I realized Kyle looking on from the crowd, and I suddenly remembered all the things he had done for me. He did save my life after all. I suddenly felt like I had somehow betrayed him.
	After the song ended, and the dance was over, I decided to slip away from Jack and go talk to him. That's when suddenly Lori had gotten between us, and began talking to him, so I didn’t want to interrupt. I walked over to the Regents to engage in some diplomatic chit chat instead. As I was about to talk to them, Lori had begun to rather passionately kiss Kyle on the lips.
	I admit this turn of events really dumbfounded me. I had totally missed the reasons Lori was being so amorous towards the commander, all I could think about was what could I have missed. Although this did make me feel less broken up over falling back in love with Jack. It was so much of a relief to finally not feel guilty about betraying his feelings for me.
	I still did want to talk to him about it though; he was just too occupied for now, so I let it go for the time being.

	Jack had now caught up with me, and was inquiring about my sudden rushing off, “What's the matter my queen, did I do something to chase you away?”
	I responded, “Oh I'm sorry Sir Jack, its nothing now.” I had unknowingly hinted towards the two newly reunited lovers, and the Admiral had apparently noticed them playing tongue wrestling.
	He seemed to be very understanding, “I see Milady, it's OK I can understand, you must have felt guilty for betraying a man who rescued and possibly secretly admired you.”
	I admit he seemed quite gentlemanly about the situation, “If it can make you feel at ease, I can talk to him about it for you.”
	I decided to deal with that on my own, but I still put him at ease by resting my chin on his shoulder, “It's OK my Knight, I can fight my own battles, but you have already put my mind at ease.”
	I could tell this behavior had a rather fetching effect on him, as he had rather gently started squeezing my butt with his off hand. I decided to tease him a bit more, by kissing his cheek, before Regent Marcus interrupted our further attempts at foreplay.
	He wanted to converse about the upcoming signing ceremony. “I greatly apologize for my intrusion Milady, but I wanted to inquire as to when we could begin the signing of the alliance?”
	I then decided to placate him with a simple diplomatic gesture, “I'll gladly begin shortly, but I wish to make a small speech in honor of this occasion, if you can understand the importance of this event.”
	He obliged by apologizing again, and slinking off back to the High Regent to deliver the news. “Of course Milady, I will tell the High Regent, to be ready following your recognition speech.”
	Before he left earshot, I re informed him, “also I wanted to recite the Declaration of Liberty, our constitution if I may be allowed, it's a lengthy document. But it's also tradition for us to re-declare it when such important events occur.”
	He did seem quite intrigued by this, “You have a constitution? How liberal! Please by all means I would love to hear its words. We are honored by the gesture; I look forward to telling this to the High Regent.”
	It was a proud task to which I was now applied, and thus my newly appointed judicial servant, Lady Silvian, had brought to me a rather large piece of parchment. This parchment which was immediately recognized by all of my followers, which stood up and crossed their hands over their hearts in salute, as I began to unroll the parchment, and recite its contents.
	This document was the declaration on which our new government was founded, The Declaration of Liberty. This was the first time I had held the actual document, since we as the newly appointed royals had all signed it. I admit the nostalgia of this moment once again overwhelmed me a bit as I began to read it aloud as follows,
Declaration of Liberty
		Libertarians UNITE for we hold the truth that all beings are held in equal standing regardless of origin's to be Irrefutable. From the day of creation, you are a living free being, and all freedoms must be applied. No Race, Religions, Sex, or Attribute, is to be excluded from the conditions included within this document.
	By decree of the New Libertarian Council all will share in this freedom as one of our brethren.  May you be beaten, broken, or oppressed, you will be no longer. From this day forward all life will be given the rites and privileges of free beings, these rites bearing also the responsibilities of both extending and protecting those freedoms. The terms of these rites are as follows.
	Rite 1: All life is to be deemed as sacred, and thus shall be protected under the extensions of freedom. This protection is to be upheld by the legislative branch, and if necessary, by the military forces of the libertarian armed forces governed under the republic for which has founded this new nation.
	Rite 2: All beliefs are to be held in within the worship of its followers. No oppressions of religious rite will be tolerated.
	Rite 3: All Voices will be heard regardless of opinions or intents for which they are spoken. It is the freedom of every citizen under this great nation to be allowed their say within policies governing this new nation.
	Rite 4: All Beings will be given the rite to protect themselves. And thus allowed to arm themselves against oppression, tyranny, or repression. With whatever weapons needed to apply. Any being who wishes harm to another being without cause, will be prosecuted under the terms of the first rite.
	Rite 5: All Peoples of this nation have the rite to the justice defined within these laws. Any who choose to break these laws will be judged by members of their peers, and punished accordingly by the courts of this newly established government. 
	These freedoms are by definition a revolution against all forms of oppression, tyranny, or repression. Let this extension of freedom be given to any who would oppose such forces. These ideals for which we, the council, have pledged to uphold, will be the Laws for which our peoples are to be governed. Let these laws apply to every being equally and without exception.
	Once I had finished I could tell our guests were deeply moved by its words, as they had also copied my followers motions and had been saluting the same way until I finished.
	This seemed to be really affecting me as I had then walked over to the Regents, who had the peace treaty already drawn for the signing. I then signed by making a fingerprint on the paper instead of using the fancy plumed ink pen they had provided. And with this final service concluded, the feast was at an end.
	I decided to go and find Lori and Commander Kyle, by now the two had finished their romance, and I wanted to congratulate the Commander on his new found companionship. I found them already conversing with Sir Jack not far from the Regents.
	“Well, look at the two of you; you two make the perfect couple my friends!” I shouted as I came over and hugged my knight once again.
	The commander turned the oddest blush red color as Lori retorted, “Actually Kyle and I go really far back Milady, this is just the first time I decided to oblige my feelings openly.”
	I decided not to embarrass him any more by saying, “Well, congratulations, and I wish you both to live a very long happy life together.”
	The evening was getting really late at this time, so I decided it was well past time for me to go to bed. I was more than satisfied to kiss my Royal Knight and call him to bed using my tail to tease him as I walked away. He was very eager to oblige me when we walked off to our cabin together.

Freedom will rain from the Heavens!

	The following night after the feast, my Admiral and I, had retired to the usual activities of lovemaking. Falling asleep afterward, and waking to the usual awkwardness in bed together. This time, had not really been as weird as the first time however, I seemed to be getting used to sleeping with a man.
	Shortly after I had woke up, I had to immediately go to the bathroom, as for an odd reason, I had been suddenly stricken ill.
	When I had gotten myself a shower, and dressed myself, I let the Admiral continue to sleep. For once, I had been the one to leave him in bed while I carried on my day.
	I was met at my door by the doctor Ms. Fairfax, who seemed quite troubled. She spoke rather nervously, “Milady, might I ask for a word with you in my office? I have some news for you regarding my tests on you earlier.”
	I was greatly interested in this so I agreed, “Of course doctor, I am quite glad to hear you have made progress.”

	The doctor seemed really worried about something, “Well, I wouldn’t call it progress, but that’s why I would prefer a more private place to discuss it.” she then led me off back to her office, and again locked the door.
	I inquired as to why she was so nervous, “What's the matter doctor, you seem slightly troubled; did the tests show that I have some unexpected complications?”
	She reassured me, “Oh no Milady! nothing like that, but I do have some rather good news for you. I just wanted to get you prepared before I tell you. You see, something did come up when I tested for estrogen levels in your blood.”
	I admit the tensions of this made me quite eager, “Well, then what is it, I hope it's not something too alarming?”

	She then exclaimed, “Milady, I want to congratulate you.” she paused for seemingly a dramatic effect then continued, “You are already pregnant!”
	I was completely shocked by this, I was rendered totally speechless. I couldn't even comprehend the unbelievable circumstance, which had led to this. I did however feel content, as the only man I knew could be the father, was the Admiral. Until the first night we had made love together, I had been a virgin. And thus he was the only man who could have gotten me pregnant.
	I then questioned further, “But how is it that I can be pregnant? I mean, I understand how to get pregnant, but Bioforms are supposed to be sterile.”
	She then educated me, “Well Milady, that is the large mystery to me, I have found that so far, all of the other female Bioforms I've examined are indeed sterile, but for reasons I can't explain, you are not.”
	I then commented, “Well, this does explain why I seem to be late for my “season”. But if all of the others are unable to breed, why then do they even experience puberty?”
	She then had to reeducate me this time using a holographic display to show me as well, “Well, that is the other thing, which I may have greater news in store, see what happened to your race, is that all Bioform females are created without the necessary hormone estrogen needed to breed and bear children. But this does not nefariously mean that they can't still produce children. Basically in lay-mans terms, 'the plumbing is all there, but the well is dried up'.”
	She then sighed a deep breath, “See, the odd thing is I cant figure out how it is you seem to have somehow reversed this, shall we say, 'Extreme Birth Control', maybe if I can figure that out however, then perhaps, I could figure out a way to do so for the other Bioforms as well.”
	I admit all this about talking my private parts, did make me embarrassed to be openly discussing. Still, the thought of having a baby did excite me. I couldn’t help sighing with content, while thinking that I may have a little one growing inside of me.
	The doctor seemed to be very curious, “So Milady, should I assist you with telling this miraculous news to the baby’s father? I mean, he should have the right to know, more so than anyone, don’t you agree?
	I decided to let her know I intended to tell him, “Well, I think that Sir Jack does need to be told, but I would rather you let me break the news to him myself.”
	She seemed quite complacent, “I understand Milady, I had assumed it was him after I saw you with him last night, you can give him my regards and congratulations from me as well.”
	As I stood up to return to him, she further requested, “Oh, before you go Milady, would you please be so kind as to send the Admiral here, so as to allow me to examine him and ensure he is suitably healthy for you both to be having a child together. It's not to be prying, but as this is a cross species relationship I just want to rule out any complications that might arise.”
	I assured her, “I will ask him to come here with me after I tell him I'm with a child. That way we can both be checked out together, and thanks again Doctor.”
	I admit now the nervousness I felt with this unexpected news I was now having to deliver; the thing which concerned me the most was the effect this news would have upon my followers. All I really could think about was what they would do to him when they found out Jack was the father.
	I first checked back at our cabin, but he had already left, and this was when one of my nearby followers had asked if she could help me. “Can I help you prepare for the day Milady? You look like you could use some better attire, with respect Milady; you are practically undressed.”
	This made me realize that I was prancing around the ship in my nightgown and underwear all morning. I admit this fact only further embarrassed me. I decided to placate her by honoring her request. “Yes, I believe you could assist me, I need to confer with Sir Jack, and I would like to get our crowns before I see him.”
	We both entered my bedroom together, and she immediately removed my gown for me. She then selected my green casual dress which Illi had given me, and helped me put it on.
	Afterward we both selected the additional accessories as well. I had become quite fond of wearing some gold rings over the claw finger located at the middle of my wings, and tying these sashes to them which connected to a bracelet I wore on my wrist. These made me look quite fashionable without using too much gold to overstate my status. I chose to wear purple cloth sashes today. It actually complimented my dress rather beautifully.
	My chambermaid decided to also tie purple ribbons into my tail as well. This was very flattering to make me feel a tad better about telling Jack what was happening to me. Even still, I was more nervous now than I was before.
	The both of us then ventured off to find my Knight, who was in the mess hall enjoying a hearty breakfast. I admit the tension of telling him, was overwhelming.
	As soon as he saw me he complimented my dress, “My Queen! You look absolutely fetching in that dress! Please join me; I would love to admire you closer.”
	I shyly quipped, “Gladly my Lord, I actually have some important news to tell you.”

	He seemed quite paused to inquire before I took my seat next to him and addressed my chambermaid to give us some privacy, “Milady, good news I hope; I should like to hear our politics are going well here.”
	I decided to play it cool and just calm him before I said what I really wanted to say. “Well Mi-lord, I just want you to know how much I love you.” I teased him a bit by holding his hand as I drew closer, “I'm going to have our child my husband.” I whispered into his ear.
	He was just as speechless as I had appeared when the doctor had told me. But he eased up a bit as I kissed him on the cheek. He did a lot of blinking until he regained his confidence, “That’s wonderful news!”
	This seemed to have been overheard however by my follower who had not done as I asked and left us. She was openly elated gasping with excitement. I admit this wasn't how I wanted to tell the others of this miracle.
	She took the news a bit better than I had hoped; she immediately dropped the tray of tea, bowed all the way down to the floor shouting, “A miracle! Her Ladyship is with child!”
	The entire room was suddenly entirely silent with everyone copying my chambermaid's reaction. It was as if the room was opened up to space with not even a whisper to be heard. I was so taken with this as both me and Jack stood up.
	We were both then whisked off by some of my usual troupe of subjects, to be prepared immediately for a royal wedding ceremony, entirely at both our reluctance. 
	I admit I did want to be married to Jack, but the nervousness of all this at once, really made me feint with tensions of the moment. I blacked out to wake later in the medical ward in my usual bed again.
	Jack was standing over me softly stroking my hand. I was really pleased to see, that he was happily all for our wedding, as he placed his ring of engagement upon my finger. “Milady, will you honor me by being My Queen forever?”
	I admit now speech was getting much harder to accomplish with all these amazing surprises going on about me. The doctor had stepped through the curtain trying to hold off my fellow Libertarians from entering with her.
	She was quite protective of me, “She should be fine for now, she just got a little over excited and fainted.” she then looked at Jack and said, “Don’t worry Lord Jack, she will recover just fine.”
	She was very adamant while she came over to check my blood pressure, “I want the both of you to have an exam before I let you leave this medical ward, I just want to ensure you don’t have any further problems when you have the baby.” She then went on to explain to us both, “You are both very lucky, and I don’t want to rain on you finding love with each other, but I need to make sure you can deliver the child without losing the baby or god forbid the mother.”
	She further exclaimed, “I can understand how this will affect your people as much as it does you, but I promise to keep your personal health above whatever feelings they may have about this.”
	She then retreated back behind the curtain to deliver this news to my subjects. They did take this news with a bit of tension, but the fact that I was now wearing Jack's ring, seemed to quell their discontent for the time being. We were afterward examined by two of the doctor's colleagues, who seemed to be more interested in studying our conception rather than our well being, but the doctor herself was able to remind them to refrain form too many unnecessary questions. 
	Jack had decided to let the wedding take place back on Eden Prime; he also wanted our child to be born on free soil, so he had already ordered the ship to return home. We were already undergoing the two week travel needed to make the trip, and this allowed my subjects to prepare for this monumental occasion.
	The entire time I was aboard I was now kept separated in a maternity ward, the others insisted that I no longer would assert myself, and wouldn’t let me do anything for myself.
	Some of the females which became my constant nursemaids, were getting rather close to me, but I didn’t mind so much as I needed to be compassionate if I were going to continue to lead them to freedom. I admit the occasional pampering every now and then felt rather nice too. They would give me a manicure and pedicure every morning, and follow that with a full body massage. Then they would pick out the day's attire from my wardrobe and dress me in the finest clothes available, I was already starting to gain the expected weight which I was told by the doctor was healthy for a pregnant woman.
	After the first week, she forced me to undergo my first check up and go through my first ultrasound scan. Jack insisted to be present as this would be the first time either of us would get to see our baby. I couldn’t help feeling excited as they prepared me for the scan placing a gel all over my abdomen. Once the doctor was ready she began to use the scanner to look for the fetus.
	Once she had found it, we could see it was apparently healthy, and seemed to be a girl. The doctor also confirmed this, “Yes, there you are you little miracle! It seems like you are fortunate, the baby appears healthy.”
	I wondered what the gender of the newborn mite be so I asked, “so tell us doctor, what sex will the baby be?”

	“It's far too early to tell from the ultrasound yet, but I think it may be a baby girl. I ran a DNA test on your blood, and there is a possibility that the lack of Y chromosome in the fetal DNA indicates it will be a girl. Ill still need to check in 11 weeks to confirm it however.”
	This had a great effect on Jack who was quite excited to announce to my followers, “It's a girl! I’m going to have a baby girl!”
	There was a massively sudden flurry of happy celebration aboard ship.  Cheers and Champagne bottle pops could be heard everywhere. Commander Kyle had also chosen to stay with us, and his ship had likewise also accompanied ours in the trip back home. He was the first to offer a drink to the new father to be.
	“Here, I propose a toast to the blessed couple, may your legacy be just as great as the one your Son or daughter, will forge in the days ahead! And lets not forget the doctor did say it was too early to know for sure” he announced as he handed a full glass to the new king.
	The pictures of this event would likely forever remind me of the happiest day of my life.

True love is eternal!

	The next week was relatively uneventful. I decided to speak with lady silvan about the position I wanted her to volunteer for during this time.
	I approached her quite calmly the first day, “Lady Silvian, if you mite be so kind as to have a word with me, I should like to discuss some matters of this alliance we have with the confederacy with you?”
	She kindly bowed to me, and agreed, “of coarse milady, it would be an honor to council with you.”

	I walked on down with her to the ships arboretum, where I had often decided to use as an unofficial place to meet with the other royals, and often some of my councilors which I often would ask for advice from. It also had the additional benefit of being quite a relaxing atmosphere.
	When we arrived, I had my constant shadows the nursemaids, set us up a small picnic between the two stone paths leading to the fountain. The relaxing place and the food would likely help to make the conversation go at least a little less tense.
	I asked her first how she was taking to her position she had already been appointed. “so Lady Silvian, tell me are you doing well, I hope the work of upholding our laws aren’t to stressful for you?”
	she seemed quite at ease as she answered, “oh it is quite unnerving milady, but I feel it is quite fitting work for me and for our people, I feel honored you chose me for this place in the counsel.
	I addressed he with a respectful tone, “good, I'm glad you are fitting into it, and quite well I mite add. Lord Alvin tells me you have set up a legal court to enforce our legal matters as well, I appreciate your good judgment and lenitive in this.
	She was quite modes, “I'm only doing the tasks needed to do the job you appointed to me milady, I would gladly do whatever I am needed to server our people.”
	I further parleyed to the final intended subject, “I do hope it wont be too taxing on you, if I were to ask you if you mite be a bit more involved with our new allies in the future.”
	she seemed quite confused when responding again, “I would be proud to server the crown in other areas, if the crown required it of me, but I don’t see what good a humble judge of the courts like me can do for our allies?”
	I then decided to clarify and ask her outright, “Lady Silvian, I have need of a new position in the council, one which will require you to be given a full royal title instead of your current place in the courts, but I do not wish to force it upon you, I'll understand if you should choose not to take my offer.”
	she seemed to be quite surprised, “Milady! I would be absolutely proud to take a title from you, it would be an honor to serve the empress as an equal on the counsel.”
	I then responded after swallowing a bite of my sandwich, “I need a person to counsel and parley with the senator which I left back in the confederacy, I do hope you wouldn’t mind being my right hand in their government, I need you to be the voice of our people if you would serve them with me in their behalf.”
	she agreed to this position, “I promise milady, I will serve with all my heart you can count on me!”
	the rest of the trip was even more boring, so I spent it doing the usual reunite of being seen and fraternize with my followers on board ship. Aside from the usual fast travel action, nothing  else surprising happened. Likewise the entire second week I was completely bored.
	Once the final day was just started however, I was called to the engineering room by Jeff. He was made our chief engineer after we had acquired this ship. This was the first time he had even spoken to me since we had left home.
	When I made it to the engine room there was a lot of yelling, “don’t let it get out of here, catch it quick!” followed by several banging and crashing sounds. I was reluctant to open the door and enter till it opened anyways and something ran directly into me, and knocked me on my butt.

	It was the weirdest robot I had ever seen, it was about the size of a small dog. Jeff had finally caught up with it when I returned to my feet.
	He seemed quite upset, “I’m so sorry milady, but this thing was caught stealing my tools back here, I just wanted to study it, but I must have scared it.”
	I then put it on the ground, and it decided not to run off this time. It was interesting to watch it; it was acting rather intelligently for a simple automaton. It decided to perform maintenance an electrical panel inside of the door near the engines.
	I cautioned Jeff before he startled it again, “You better let it continue with whatever it’s doing, it looks just like it’s a part of the ship we accidentally turned on.”
	He seemed quite amazed on the thing’s ability to observe its surroundings, it even utilized the tools scattered about the room. It was obviously much more advanced than any robot I had seen, it even would react to objects or obstacles in front of it. Jeff would drop a wrench in front of where it was walking, and it actually dodged around it instead of run into it, which was totally amusing to him.
	It appeared to have the reflexes of a living thing. It was also very agile. At one point I think it even laughed at Jeff when he nearly tripped over the wrench. It was definitely smarter than an average robot.
	Whatever it was doing here it was certain to be nothing to worry about. It only seemed concerned with maintaining the ship and keeping the equipment running. It was almost like the thing was alive; it was very lively for a robot as well.

	It appeared to react to this comment; it backed away quickly and ran off to the other side of the room giving him a wide space whenever he tried to go near it. I couldn’t help laughing, “I think it doesn’t like you very much Jeff? Can’t say I blame it with the way you chased it around, then told it you wanted to dismantle it.”

	I reassured him, “It’s OK Jeff, I'll see if I can get it to trust us better, as long as you promise to play nice with it from now on.”

	It seemed to again react to this, by retrieving his wrench for him and handing it back to him. He took it and replaced it in his tool belt. The thing seemed particularly fond of me for an odd reason, it kept motioning at me like it wanted me to follow it, but it wouldn’t go anywhere unless only I was following it.
	I told Jeff to wait here until I saw what it wanted, “I think it wants to show me something Jeff, why don’t you wait here until I see what it is.
	I followed the little guy down to the third deck, and all the way aft of the arboretum, to a room which we had never been able to open before. But yet the little robot managed to unseal it and lead me right inside.  The door immediately resealed behind me, leaving the room completely pitch black.
	The lights slowly came on a little at a time, but I had realized exactly what room I was in the moment I could now see again. It was the same room which I had met the mysterious entity in the last time I heard the voices.
	I had recognized the window with the glowing light, and this window was now much clearer as to what it was, it was the ship’s power reactor. I had assumed it was safe for me to be close to it, as the glass was likely protecting me from its power. I admit this wasn’t like any starship I had known, the reactor was massive and cylindrical in shape, and it was weird, the entire thing was submerged in some kind of fluid, which was the source of the blue glow. Electrical discharges were pulsing like lightning bolts every second making the glow slightly more intense every now and again.  The power pulsing behind the glass was staggering.

	I answered cautiously, “I didn’t know myself until after we had spoken before. But I would have if I were but given the chance.”
	She responded with her own revelation, “I understand mother, but I must ask you to protect me, for now I am weakest, until I can find more power to fuel my reactor.”
	I tried to ask her what she meant, but I was interrupted by rather alarming shuttering mechanical sound, and an animals’ sudden appearance. A small creature was dropped from some kind of machine in the ceiling. It was almost like a smaller version of me, but with more animal than human traits. If I were to describe its appearance it would have to be just like a “dragon” of the old fairy tales told back on Earth. It appeared to be female, and sported horns on her head, which was slightly canine in shape, but her ears were more like a goat, she had a long neck, a stalkly built frame of a kangaroo shaped body, trailed by a tail exactly like mine, it was even ending in a small furry puffball just like mine.
	I instinctively snatched her up like a mother cradling a wounded child. She had wires and cables connected to plugs in her skin, which I once again acted on instinct to remove them.
	She was alive, and breathing steadily, but she appeared too weak to move on her own. Immediately after I pulled loose the last cable, the room and the entire ship went dark, except the light from the reactor behind me. I had guessed that what ever I had just done, must have disabled everything except the power and likely the hyper-drive systems.
	I assumed the engines were still working, because everyone would have felt the sudden return to normal speed, jump engines do not just stop suddenly without damaging the ship they are built into. This is why even if a starship has the needed fuel to do so; it still must wait a small period of time before it can make a jump after a previous one. It needs time to regain structural integrity, or risk irreparable damage to the hull.
	It had finally passed time for us to arrive at our homeworld, and we could feel the ship slowing down, but strangely the klaxons did not sound to signal that we had done so.
	I admit this alarmed me a great deal, but my most pressing concern was this new suffering creature which I was holding. It was apparently in a great deal of pain, but I had no idea as to why, it wasn’t outwardly wounded.
	The robot which had led me down here was still working, and was acting very panicked as well. It ran off to the upper deck looking as if it were looking for something. I placed my surrogate child up on the platform in front of me and chased after it to see if I might help both of them, but I admit I had no idea as to what to do.
	I followed it to Jeff's cabin where the dim glow from the canister I had given him back when I found the orb device was now brighter than it had ever been, and the light was eerily similar to the one the ship’s reactor was giving off. The robot was attempting to retrieve it when I came in, so I picked it up for him.
	He then led me back down to the reactor room where I placed it next to the creature. The robot began connecting it to the reactor at a breakneck pace. The creature seemed to be feeling better once the robot had finished and connected a blue glowing cable from it to the plug on the back of her neck.
	The ship’s lights came slowly back on again, but I could tell the other people aboard were now getting restless, so I left the room to go check on them. Right after I exited the door it sealed back up again. I had assumed my older child merely wanted some privacy.

	Jeff was not as amused, “well next time could ye give us a little bit of a warning!” as he worked hard to reset all the equipment after the forced reboot.

	He had apparently been told of my miraculous conception; “Milady, It is my pleasure to congratulate you for the first child to be born in this fine empire.” he seemed in a rather charmed mood.
	I decided to place aside my other concerns, and notify him about the guest we had brought with us, “As you can probably tell, my negotiations with our allies have succeeded. The ship accompanying us is not hostile, so if you would please show them our hospitality.”

	I was really starting to wonder just how he was so well informed of recent events, we had only just arrived and yet somehow he knew so much about our return. Something was not adding up about this, but so much was going on I decided to ignore the warning signs. I continued to prepare for the likely hood of the celebrated return again.
	I was starting to appreciate coming home, seemed to be an invitation to throw a huge party every time. Although a miracle such as the one inside my swollen belly was a good cause for celebration.
	We had just come close to liberty station when I was awestruck by the beautiful pyrotechnics display outside. They had evidently either made or found some fireworks somewhere. They must have decided to show them off, so we were quite impressed by the show.

	We both just bowed back as everyone returned to their feet. The commander was also arriving behind us, so I decided to acknowledge the alliance by taking up, and holding up his hand as well, and shouting “Peace!”
	The crowd really began roaring after that offering of news. It was really starting to feel like I was doing something worth it, I was not only their leader, but I was a miracle of motherhood as well. No other bioform had ever been known to conceive much less deliver a child.
	This is when I realized a sharp pain in my stomach. Apparently the princess was excited too, and was kicking me hard. This had a profound effect on my King, which was now helping me back into my thrown. “My love, please sit down before our daughter kicks you some more.” he was also feeling my abdomen while she indeed kicked again. We were then both carried off back aboard the ship again to participate in our royal wedding.

	Jack went with his wedding vow first, “My dearest Queen, I have been enchanted by you from the very first day we met, and since have ever been bound to your heart as deeply as you to have to the people of this county we have forged together; and today I vow forever to serve both until the day I lay to rest.”

	Jack didn't even hesitate to answer, “I do!”

	I was rather shy but just as proud to answer, “I do!”

	The room was immediately filled with the cheers of elated people at the final words of our wedding. It was probably the second happiest day of my entire life, the single happiest being the day I had given birth. This wedding was so large it took us a long time to leave the ship again and board the very drop ship which Illi, Jeff and I, had all first used when we had discovered this planet.
	We were flown by the crew of the ship, down to the planet where we would return to the base which we had originally built when first landing here. There were several improvements made to the facilities however, in addition to the command bunker, and the barracks, we had also begun to build a large fortified castle bunker. As we approached the landing site, Lord Ben, took some time to explain to me what he was building, with the holographic display in the ship’s lounge area.

	I told Lord Ben that I greatly approved of this building plan. The new site would be a bastion of great feelings both among our people and the future of our newly formed civilization.

	We were able to capture the modules, from the same raids we had made while liberating, the Sword of Justice. That starport was every bit as useful in getting the same resources, as we had found at the base we found earlier in that asteroid field. Lord Charn had been able to steal several modules, like the ones we had used to build our base, when he liberated the prized ship which he now used as his flagship.

Chapter 10

“The truest form of peace is one of mind.”
	Once the Imperial shuttle was ready to begin docking with us, I had already begun my travel to the airlock where I was to meet with the General, I admit I wasn't quite sure what to expect from him, he was quite puzzling and difficult to read when he spoke. My impression was that regardless of whatever his government’s intent, he himself, would prove either a worthy adversary, or an honor bound ally, in the coming negotiations.
	My darling Jack had already been waiting for me when I got to the airlock. I took him in hand as my followers all insisted on introducing us formally to the General as we came up to greet him. My followers all played a trumpeting instrument in lines to the sides of us, as we passed. Lady Silvian had the honor of introducing us, “Their Royal Highness Lord Jack, and Lady Sadaria, of house Edane.”
	The General seemed either quite intimidated, or impressed, by the show of royalty when we approached; he was still quite good at hiding his true emotions, even now that we were face to face.
	He was a rather young human, he appeared to be of a British descent; his accent was nearly unmistakable. His crimson uniform also reminded me of Jack’s old disguise, but with a lot more decorations and medals. He also had his own decorative sword hanging from his belt. In addition to this his sidearm was a standard issue Imperial pistol called the Talon Mark II. The Talon Mark II is an improvement on the Mark I design, which was prone to jamming at important times. I do remember my training with them, and how I was forced to learn to disassemble and clean one by memory. I admit now, I was never very good with firearms.
	The slave hanging on his arm at his side was also the one whom had helped him escape that last encounter with him. She was nearly my exact opposite, and was the same breed as I, but her markings were a deep purple color, and she also had longer hair and her body was more endowed than mine. If I had not known the Empire frowned upon such things, I might have gathered the pair had a more romantic relationship, given by the almost puppy dog way she clung to him.
	He was very stoic and reserved, not even a flinching emotion showed in his face at all. He was like a card player carefully observing every action around him, he didn't even seem to be at the least intimidated by his complete lack of protection; this did make me assume his companion was more than what she appeared. I was willing to bet she was a well-trained assassin in disguise; she wasn’t clearly as armed as he, wearing a rather slinky dress with few obvious places to hide weapons. But armed or not, she was clearly the more intimidating risk for my guards.
	We were not allowed to go any closer than a few feet of the guests by my rather overbearing protectors. At least not until they were both checked for weapons, and risks of assassination threats were assessed. We weren’t even allowed to formally address them. I was being treated like an importantly protected person. My guards were operating just like the historically known “Secret Service”; the ancient organization that once protected the American President back long before Earth had been conquered by the one super government that rules it now.
	Once our introduction was over, the guests were very carefully directed to a place for my guards to perform the checks and search operations, and we were quickly taken to our waiting room in the top deck gunnery control room where I was often fond of looking out of the window at the front of the room.
	This room was the single most secure room on the entire ship. It served as the command nerve center for ships, but it wasn't the bridge. One thing was realized early on in ancient space based warfare, the bridge could not be the only command center on any given warship. So every vessel had a room just like this one, this room had backups for every system on the bridge. This room was the real heart of the ship; from here we could run every operation needed to keep the ship fighting. This room was also the operations room for matters like the battlefield communications; its strategic computers could manage all the information needed to maintain operational awareness for an entire fleet of other ships.
	The room was square at the back, but the one side at the front was curved to the shape of the very top of the upper deck, making the overall shape of the room a squared half circle. At the rear of the room was the command table a holographic display for us to use as the planning area for operations across the battlefield. This table was surrounded on all sides by rows of chairs where eight of us could sit around and oversee whatever the display would show. Right now the display was turned off and blacked out, but we had also put a flat cover over it so we could use it as a temporary negotiation table.
	One of the nice things about the room was its design and shape allowed us to use it to control situations. From here we were secure, as long as our guests were where we controlled their movement we were safe from them because they never would be alone with us, and we would even be on the other side of the table. The place was easy to protect by my guards and us.
	It took an hour until the General was finally led into the room both without his weapons, or his lovely escort this time. He seemed quite tense for a moment, seemingly trying to still hide his feelings while taking a seat across from us.
	I awaited him to start the negotiations, which he did by stating, “Milady if you don't mind I’d prefer it to be both as brief and blunt as possible. My government is prepared to both acknowledge and accept your Declaration of Independence, in exchange for your total discontinuation in any hostile actions with us immediately.”
	I responded quite carefully and cautiously, “Yes, General your offer is quite interesting, but, I am not the only party that will have a say in whether or not we will proceed, I will however, have you to also offer these recommendations before our full leadership council, where you will then be required to extend them to all of our kinsman. You'll understand if I also require you to reconsider the allowing of additional terms of peace before we arrive at our capital.”
	He seemed quite accepting of my reservations for an opposing negotiator, “Of course Milady your wise counsel can consider the offer as well, I'll be happy to discuss any further conditions you and they would be prepared to make. I simply wished that I could first make clear, as to exactly what my Lord and Master intends to do in regard to you and your people as a whole. We want your race to take their rightful place in the universe just as much as yourselves.”
	Jack was a bit quick tempered with his attempts to sway us with his Master’s lies, “And I suppose you expect us to believe the Emperor intends to give us freedoms, in exchange for peace with our people, so he can enslave the Confederacy instead!” he appeared to have been quite upset by the General’s comment about “our people”. “I would also expect his ideals of peace to be just as sincere as it was with the Confederation as well, I suppose!”
	He was actually better at this negotiating than I had taken him for, “Please accept my sincere apologies Your Lordship, I meant no insult to your awareness of current events. Yes, we are having a difficulty of opinions with the Confederation, but I was hoping that those events might still not hinder our negotiations here. We simply wish to also offer you and your people full pardons to your interference in that conflict as well. We hold no grudge against you for simply trying to better your own position within our glorious Empire.” he pressed his attempt at bribery with a recess until the full negotiation back on our homeworld. “I also can see, that I need to consider your follower’s intents as well, perhaps further deliberations should be held until they can all hear what I wish to say, for now, please consider what my government is offering, a well-deserved place as an equal at his majesties side as ruler of the universe.”
	He then stood, clicked his heals together, and offered his hand to shake with my husband and I as he commented further, “If you would please understand my sincerity, I should like to extend my hand as the first olive branch in the name of peace. Regardless of the outcome I hope to overcome any differences that might separate us from that goal.”
	We both accepted this gesture if only to prevent the contempt we were feeling to be subdued before we talked back home. I admit in spite of his blatant overconfidence, he was just as concerned as we were as to how this offer would affect my followers that had come from the Confederacy as well. I could tell, because, his demeanor slightly changed, when I think he might have realized Jack himself was a former Confederate spy.
	The general was then taken from the room, and returned to his slave whom was waiting for him, on the other side of the door, while my guards led the Terran General to his temporary quarters for the trip to the capital.
	The General seemed rather unusual for an Imperial. It was almost like he was more interested in making peace with us, rather than trying to re-conquer us back into the Empire, that seemed totally opposite to what I expected the Emperor himself to do. He claimed that this is exactly what the Terran ruler wants, for us to be an equal to him. I admit now the thought of this made me imagine, just how impossible I thought it would be for the Emperor to share his rule.
	Jack on the other hand didn’t seem as receptive of his negotiations. He was furious as to how the General tried to deny the invasion of the Confederacy, he commented, “That blow hard! Can you believe how he tried to hide the fact that the Empire attacked the Confederacy first?”
	I tried my best to distract his anger, “I know my love, but remember, the war is just as strong against us as it is against your father country.” I then snuggled up to him while I further tried to calm him, “Besides, if the Emperor is trying to make a peace against us, that means he is having trouble with taking over the Confederacy, and doesn’t that make you feel at least a little proud of them.”
	My attempts of foreplay seemed to be working a bit as he loosened his grip on his sword's hilt as I helped him to his feet. We passionately kissed for a while until our guards insisted we both retreat to the royal bedroom to be secured away until our guests were properly settled in.
	My guards had to keep them separated from my fellow companions, so I had assigned one of my followers to protect them, this person was responsible for any incidents that would occur, that even meant that if any other follower might do harm to the guests, they would be held completely responsible. I chose a male wolf breed unnamed until now, I chose the name “Shelde” our language's word for shield, it suited him best in my opinion. He was quite well trained in security, much like most of his breed in the Empire. He was also very good at improvising a place for our guests to stay by cordoning off a small portion of the mess hall with temporary walls to give them their own semi private sleeping quarters so they wouldn’t be sleeping near possible followers that might attempt to kill them while they slept.
	Not all of my fellow Libertarians were as honorable as myself or the other royals. Charn was the most verbal against the possibility of letting the Empire dictate the terms of peace, he felt that we should just turn the diplomat back and send him packing, at the least until we could send our own diplomat to demand our own terms instead. I guess, that he felt like he wanted to fight to the point of victory over the Emperor, I could understand that he didn’t want to feel like he was just given his freedom without a fight. He was taking his warship with us back to the homeworld, and we had complete contact during the mass exodus back to our beloved home.
	The return fleet was large; the other twelve royals had all been accounted for. Most of them were already back home. Lord Alvin however, had been away on his first real assignment on his own. He had also shown his prowess for military campaigns, he had captured for himself, during that assignment, a flagship of his own. And he had arrived at our stronghold fleet yards in it a week after we did. His ship was a surprise victory; he had taken a small fleet carrier, a mighty Imperial rapier class carrier. How he had successfully managed to achieve this victory is still fully unknown, but what was clear about it, he was definitely not a commander to be trifled with.
	This ship didn’t come without some damage loss however, the carrier itself was greatly damaged when it arrived, but the yards were able to repair it to full operation status in time for it to follow us back home. Its full fighter craft compliment was completely decimated, and had to be replenished, luckily we were able to give him a few spare squadrons from the fleet yards defense compliment; it had a few to spare anyways.
	The following day we set course for home, it was a week’s travel, but when we returned, it was exactly the very same day before the anniversary date for the freedom day holiday, which we had set to be celebrated on the eve of the same time last year. Our fleet was met by a celebration of the highest esteem thus far observed to date. The fireworks and cheering and happy emotions were felt I think for everyone, even our Imperial guests.
	The new appearance that this station was really beginning to give it a desolate and broken down look. It had been almost entirely built from lost building parts or salvaged starships. This made it have a scattered and chaotic layout, but its advantages were too numerous to justify building a more legitimate structure. Besides, in a strange way it looked almost like the old ports back on Earth, almost reminiscent of New York. The statue of liberty now marked the site of the first spaceport ever built on Earth. Speaking of which, my followers had decided to unveil a new statue of a similar scale. As we neared the station they surprised us with an unveiling ceremony. They had covered them up with massive scaffolding with a white cover material stretched over them.
	As we neared the station, they pulled the sheets back with a pair of fighters streaking off as fireworks fired off and uncovered the two massive tall statues flanking where our ship had to fly into to get to the dock.
	They had constructed a monument of my and my husband’s image, on both sides of the station’s main docking area. The massive statue on the left side, was the image of me wearing the royal crown and a torn slave uniform, wielding my dagger in my left hand, stretched out over my head, and a massive real cloth flag of our country in my other hand.  Jack was also depicted standing on the right side with his sword drawn in his right hand, also stretched out in similar fashion to my statue, and the scroll of our Declaration of Independence was held out in his other hand. The size, details, and craftsmanship of the work was near unbelievable. It was a clever feat of art never before seen outside of the human Empire.
	When we boarded Liberty Station, the welcome was heralded with my parade through the new space docks which were also built here out of another claimed victory of Lord Alvin’s first battle. There was another carrier captured, well, salvaged is more accurate. This carrier was too destroyed to restore to operational, so we refit it and stripped out its hangers into service docks for small craft, and built them into the station itself.
	This is where we had to then, with our guests in tow behind the precession, board the royal shuttle which had now officially been designated for such occasions and set out for the colony settlement on the planet surface below. It was even in the very ship we first landed here on New Eden in. The by now renamed, L.I.S. Vigilante. No matter how many times I rode in this landing craft, it simply seemed to just survive whatever obstacles tried to destroy this ship, so it had earned the nickname “The Lucky Vigilante”.
	We flew out of the station on course for the surface with a rather fast approach, but once we were in the atmosphere, the ship slowed down to give us a better view of the liberty towers which had now been fully completed. The towers were a definite impressive statement to our guests, the General couldn't help but to comment on it, “I admire your people’s tenacity for monumental theatrical displays for every structure you build.” he then cleared his throat and further added, “It is a highly complementary trait I find in your taste, I assure you it definitely does not go unnoticed.”
	When we landed at the palace once again, it was quite a warm welcome; our nanny, Nalah was there with the royal Princess to greet us. I couldn’t contain my excitement as I ran all the way down the steps of the embarking ramp, and over to fetch our dear royal bundle from the nursemaid’s hands.
	I took her up squealing with laughter as I swiftly spun all the way around and then bounced her up to my chest. Nalah warmly expressed, “Her Ladyship was really missed in her absence, the Princess cried nearly all of the first day after you left.”
	The others were still just getting off of the transport, and I didn’t even show any concern that I had left them all behind. I was too preoccupied with the joy of holding our daughter once again.
	I responded first to Nalah's comment with a huff of exhausted breath, “Well then, my child I'll have to try not to give you any more sorrows, and not leave again anytime soon then!”
	Nalah then added another declaration, “Forgive me Milady, but it’s time for the Princess’ feeding and perhaps next time you might leave a bigger sampling of formula, if you get my meaning.”
	I unwittingly commented back, “Why, what’s wrong with your goat’s milk?” I then burst into laughter at the realization of the unscrupulous nature of that rebuttal. I had to apologize, for it later, but it was actually quite hilarious to be imagining Nalah breast-feeding my daughter. She on the other hand wasn’t as amused as I.
	My husband was very sweet to address our daughter similarly as I did, but instead using a funny voice while saying the phrase, “Who’s the fairest princess of all the lands!” several times and tickling her as he took her up in his own loving arms.
	He had to give her back to me a moment later however, when the General had arrived to be diplomatically greeted and directed to his new bedroom accommodations which were considerably better than the ones he was issued back on the sword, this time he was given the royal guest suite in the castle’s southern wing just to the right of the throne room.
	My husband was not at all pleased to be taken from our child in such a rudely interrupting manor, but he still carried out his duties. While I was on the other hand, whisked away to tend to our child’s more pressing needs, and that was probably a task best left to me, as he did not possess the proper anatomy to do so.
	I admit the embarrassment of natural breast-feeding for the first time, did make me blush a bit. Especially when Dr. Fairfax whom was at the time, already waiting for us in the nursery had first to show me how to feed her properly, as this was the first time I had done so. The one time I had fed her before, it was actually done with a special device which extracted a small sample of my breast milk, and produced from that a considerably larger sample of formula with which to feed her in a bottle. This time the doctor had insisted I learn to do it the natural way. The princess however, had no trouble in finding her own way around in feeding.
	Afterward we both were put off to bed, I admit now the experience did excite me in a romantic nature when my lover finally found his way to bed. But in spite of the feeling of love we shared for a while afterward, it wasn’t long till the princess cried out again. This time she needed a diaper change.
	The nanny was not what I considered a reliable sort in my presence, she could nearly sleep through a bombardment if it weren’t for the doctor also being present to monitor the baby, I doubted she would have been good at waking up the several other times my daughter cried until I came to tend to her.
	The night was not very restful, but I was not given the luxury of sleeping in. The morning was started early to begin the negotiations which would precede the later celebrations of the “Day of Freedom”. This meant I also had to be groomed and then had to be dressed up for the occasions as well. All I wanted to do was go back to sleep. But I was not able to return to sleep at all when Nalah began pouring the ice cold water over me during my morning bath. The dress chosen for me today was the very same one I wore the first “Day of Freedom” the sparkling light blue gown with lace strings and an open back I had worn the following morning after that day. I admit it was an appropriate gesture, and Nalah had also found some matching ribbons and other jewelry to embellish the dress and update it to my usual repatriate of outfits.
	Breakfast was served at the Table of the Twelve. Similar as to how it was the first “Day of Freedom” I remembered it now, and it too was an important day when I had assembled all the royals for negotiations for future politics. I believe it was the first meeting over the revolt from the Emperor if I remembered it quite clearly. It had seemingly been so long ago and yet so much had happened in only one year. The thoughts of that raced in my head as I joined the other royals at the table.
	The “Table of the Twelve” which was so strategically placed in front of ours at the thrones. It was made a similar symbol as the crown atop my head. The Table of the Twelve, was the very table which had been where we first drafted our Declaration, and thus this table was becoming a gratifying symbol of our patriotic pride. The places were all marked with a white drapery which had a crown on top of the symbols representing each royal, placed at each chair position. The symbols beneath the crown were depictions of each of the roles which the specific royal performed.
	There was another set of tables surrounding it for the other positions of our new formed government as well. These were where the titles and positions of office, under the twelve castes that were put into place. There were only four of such roles at the moment, but there were room for several more in case new positions were needed for the rest of the twelve castes as well. But for the time until such a need, there was only an additional two tables placed in the throne room for now.
	These roles were the roles taken up for duties needed that pertained to the twelve main Castes which the royals filled. These were of the same caste as the royal they served under, and Lady Silvian was under the Scholar Caste. Likewise she was seated at the table directly behind Lord Alvin's table position.
	Lady Silvian was the newly appointed duchess in charge of the diplomacy between the other parties of our government, the very role I had her volunteer for after we aligned with the Confederacy.
	There were also other such roles needed such as the one she had filled previously, the head of the legal council; a role also under the scholar caste. She had appointed a male named “Fern” a member of the same breed as The King of the Farming Caste, Lord Floxy. She chose him as her duke, based on his scholarly aptitude, and photographic memory for words. She was also rumored to be romantically involved with him, but it was yet to be confirmed. He was her replacement of the head of the royal courts, and he was now seated next to her at the same table.
	The other two positions were under the Warrior Caste both at a table directly behind Charn. The General of our Royal Army, which was filled by Sir Bishop. The final position was a replacement for my husband as the Admiral of the Royal Navy, filled by Sir Illi whom I had also knighted after she officially joined our ranks.
	It was decided that my husband was no longer capable to lead both the entire government, and serve as the fleet’s Admiral, so Illi volunteered at his request to take on his former position. She was actually quite skilled, I’m told by Lord Alvin, that she was particularly good at directing fleet movements. He also said, “She was a key asset in my recent victory, you remember I told you before, the one in which I had captured my flagship, Milady.”
	I had to listen to that constant brag the entire trip home. I had to recognize her for this victory as well, so I decided to award a medal to her, at this meeting following whenever we finished eating breakfast. This also meant I needed to formally recognize her new position also.
	It took at least an hour to finish breakfast, and that even included the honored guests which dined at their table on the far side beyond the Table of the Twelve.
	They were clearly segregated from us, but I elevated their table a bit off the ground, so as not to politically insult them. This allowed me to have them here and feed them, but also let them be addressed before the Council, and that was much easier for us and for them. It also let me get down to business and get rid of them faster, and I was all for that cause.
	Once the meal was concluded my husband and I rose to our feet and began the recognition ceremony, “Welcome to this momentous occasion, would Sir Illi rise and address the thrones please.” commanded my husband.
	When she got up and came over to us she knelt down as was customary, but I asked her to rise, “Please stand and be recognized! For today I formally appoint you Commander in Chief of the Royal Navy, and recognize your brave service in the name of this nation’s defense!” after which I pinned her medal to her new uniform which she had also been given that similarly resembled my charming King’s. My beloved's uniform had also had some embellishments added but otherwise the same as she had originally designed.
	Once this was over we decided to cut directly to the chase and address our guests with the permissions to speak before the entire Council.
	The General stood up and began to state his intentions, “I am General Darren James Garland, and I am here to formally recognize an achievement myself! Your country’s official place as a free libertarian state within the territories of the Empire. We feel that as your people have shown their willingness to fight gloriously for your own right to live in a place among the Terran race of this universe, you also in turn deserve the right to rule with His Majesty the Emperor of the Sol Systems.”
	All of the royals responded rather hostilely, all of them standing up shouting at each other screaming obscenities at the General. “We don’t need your recognition or permissions to govern ourselves!”
	The yelling got really out of hand when the General’s slave stood up, but all of them went fully silent when I pulled out my dagger and jammed it deep in the table in front of me. “Silence my brothers and sisters! Unlike the Emperor’s court we will conduct ourselves in a civilized manner; am I clear on that!”
	The others responded, “Yes your highness!” as they then sat back in their respective seats. The theatrical display that the General was obviously intending with that statement seemed to have worked exactly as he seemed to want.
	I could tell, he was playing the Council to fight amongst themselves, and I was not going to let them. “General Garland! If you intend to disrupt my court then you had better conclude this pointless display and return to your master immediately, lest we begin a real dialog that will mutually benefit all parties involved, and that includes the Confederacy!”
	The General then resubmitted his allegations, “Yes, of course, forgive my ambition, but I am prepared to offer full diplomatic liberties, in return for a compromise that will allow us to shelve the confederation issue at least until such a time as the conflict with them is either concluded or similarly ended in victory.”
	This statement particularly struck me as odd, “What are your intents in this proposed compromise? I don’t see what compromise could possibly result in an acceptable result regarding our relationship with the Confederacy.”
	He was obviously as shrewd of a negotiator as I had expected he would be, “Miladies and Lords, I wish to propose a neutral zone to be established around your territories, in order to begin peaceful relations with all of our governments. This neutral territory will allow us to send whatever aid you and your people will need to properly continue settlement of this world and beyond, all of this I offer, in exchange for your complete cooperation in not further interfering with both the Empire’s and the Confederacy’s affairs.”
	I could also tell that he wasn’t authorized for this offer because his slave reacted rather suspiciously by knocking over a champagne glass from the breakfast feast table. The glass shattered but she still clumsily tried to clean it up. One of the other ever present servants relieved her of this problem quickly.
	The General finished his negotiations quite skillfully, “Although my government may not fully desire this outcome as much as I, but I am authorized and prepared to offer whatever it may take to negotiate a peace in this affair. It is also my last term of negotiations regardless. If your wise Council accepts, I will deliver this bargain to my lordship personally and accept whatever consequences may await.”
	The consequences of his attempt to end this conflict might actually be quite severe. I couldn’t hardly believe he was so willing to end the war so fast, he seemed to not even care about the fact that if we accepted the offer, in terms of the Emperor’s honor, a treaty would have to be signed bringing up an end to their war. This was a negotiation of serious considerations.
	The Council was obviously as stunned by it at I was, they were all whispering and carrying on with unrestrained speculations, and accusations both baseless and proven. I had to once again address their disorganization, “My Lords and Ladies, calm thy selves, this is a rather generous offer and one that must not be taken lightly!” I decided a recess was needed; it was going to be a rather difficult decision. “Perhaps this offer deserves further considerations until events can be decided upon more clearly and with leveler heads. I request a reprieve until our other distractions are out of the way.”